The Blood Harvest
by DownwiththeSupernatural
Summary: The brothers go to a small town to investigate the ritualistic type murders that have taken place. R&R, No flames please.
1. The case

Here is my latest attempt at writing! Hope you all like and as always R&R to let me know what you think! And if anyone sees any major grammatical errors, please let me know, so I won't get locked out from the site for a week again!

Title:The Blood Harvest

Author:Coleharley(Me)

Rating:PG-13 or Maybe R(some really graphic scenes)

Characters:Dean and Sam(some Oc's thrown in too)

Summary:The brothers go to a small town to investigate the ritualistic murders of children taking place there.

Warnings:Blood and Death (nothing too bad though)

Authors note:I do so love to torture the Winchester brothers, so be warned, there's some major owie's coming up in the future chapters.

Disclaimer:Don't own them(wish I did)

The Blood Harvest ch.1

"Hey, take a look at this Dean."Sam said, pointing to a section on the news paper he was reading.

"First Annual Cotton Ridge dog show a big success."Dean read, and squinting his eyes, released a big sneeze."So what? You into dogs now or something?"

"Not that stupid, I'm talking about the _really big _article below it,with a picture of woods and a big piece of _police_ tape marking the area off around them." Sam said, pointing at the story.

"Oh, _that_. My bad."Dean said, smiling sheepishly, followed by another sneeze.

"_Yuck, _Dean. Haven't you ever heard of covering your nose when you do that?"Sam asked, snarling his nose up in distaste, while picking up a napkin from the table in the diner where they sat eating, and wiping his coat off.

"Sorry, Sammy. Look on the bright side, your coats leather and will wipe right off."he added, smiling brightly.

"Yes, that makes me feel _so_ much better about having snot blown all over me, leave it to you to find the silver lining in anything."Sam said sarcastically, then turned his attention back to the paper laying on the table."It says here that they just found the body of a 10yr.old boy, drained of blood. Seems they think it's some sort of a ritualistic killer on the loose. It's the fifth child they've found within the last 4 months, and so far the police haven't come up with any leads or suspects."

"Well, I know it's bad when anybody's killed, especially if it's a kid , but solving murder mysteries aren't really our specialty Sammy. That's what the _police_ are for." Dean said, with a shrug.

"Well, Dean, see there's this, _other_ little part of the story, that makes it something we would handle. The paper says that a friend of the last boy killed, actually saw the murderer, and he was not your typical one at that."Sam said,turning the page to find the second part of the article.

"When you say, not your typical murderer, what exactly do you mean?"Dean asked, sneezing again, this time using a tissue.

"The victims friend, Jeffrey Martin who the paper says is ten years old, told the officer that first arrived his friend was stabbed by a monster. In a long black trench coat, with a black hat. And the really good part is this, boy says the man had no eyes, just dark holes where they should have been." Sam said, looking at Dean, while raising an eyebrow.

"Looks like I was wrong Sammy, this is something for us. What monster drains kids blood though? Paper said he used a dagger, right?"

"Sure did."Sam replied."So we're going?"

"Where is...Cotton Ridge? How far away from here is it?"Dean asked after blowing his nose.

"About twenty-five miles away. Looks like it's one of them small hokey type towns."Sam replied.

"Well, then I say we check it out, it shouldn't put us too far off our planned route."Dean answered."And if we find this thing, we'll make sure it doesn't kill any more children."

"Alright then, lets head out."Sam said, and walked up to the counter to pay for their food, while Dean walked out to stand beside the car.

Sam walked out, and received the biggest shock he'd had in a long time.

"Here you go Sammy, you drive."Dean said, throwing the keys to his baby in Sam's direction.

"You're gonna let_ me _drive? Without me having to beg or anything? What's wrong? Are you _dying_ or something?"Sam asked, putting his hand over his heart in an act of shock.

"No. I have a headache alright, and don't really feel like driving, _but_ if you don't think you can han..."

"No problem bro, I can handle this baby easily."Sam said quickly, cutting off his brothers sentence."Get in and buckle up, cause the captain is ready for take off."

"This isn't an airplane dummy."Dean muttered as he settled back into the passenger seat with a sigh."It's something much more special, _so special _that it's owner will not hesitate to kill anyone who gets so much as a scratch on it. Do you understand me?"

"Loud and clear, no hurt car, no die. Not a problem."and they pulled onto the road and started towards Cotton Ridge, Lousiana.

Sam was bored most of the trip because Dean had went to sleep not ten minutes down the road, which slightly concerned Sam.

Dean never gets sick.

There's a first time for everything, he told himself when Dean temporarily woke up due to having a coughing fit, but fell right back asleep afterwards.

They finally reached their destination.

A sign reading,"You are now entering: Cotton Ridge, pop:2,035."

"Dean! Wake up, we're here."Sam said loudly, while elbowing his brother.

"What? Already? That was a quick trip."Dean said, sitting up and stretching.(Achoo)

"No, it _wasn't_ a short trip Dean, you just slept through the _whole_ thing."Sam said, making a face at him.

"Oh. Well, anyway, here we are in Cotton Ridge, the _party_ town of Louisiana!"Dean said, and added a whoop at the end of his sentence.

"You are one strange individual Dean. Take a look around, this place looks like a mix between mayberry, and that swamp in deliverance."

Sam said with a frown.

"I find it charming."Dean said, getting out of the car, where he promptly got overcome by dizziness and leaned against the car for support, sliding down it till he was in a sitting position."Whoa."he muttered.

"Dean! What happened?"Sam asked, running around to his side of the car and squatting in front of him.

"Just got dizzy for a moment there. Though I gotta admit, sitting down here isn't making me feel much better either."he answered, following it with another sneeze.

"How long you been sick, Dean?"Sam asked, looking at him with a solemn expression

"A couple of days, but it's nothing big. Just a cold or virus."Dean replied.

"Or the _flu, _or _pneumonia_, so you're right, no biggie. Nothing the _great Dean _can't handle."Sam said sarcastically.

Standing up again. Dean managed to remain on his feet this time."See, all better, let's go find this Jeffrey Martin kid."and smiling at Sam,led

the way into the "Cotton Ridge Inn" to get a room for the night.

"Hello, there."An older dark haired woman, with little round glasses perched on the tip of her nose said in greeting, putting down the book she had been reading. "What can I do for you boys?"she asked, looking at them suspiciously.

"We're um..FBI agents ma'am, here to look into the recent murders that have taken place. I'm Dean, and my partner here is Sam."Dean replied, flipping his wallet open to show one of his many fake I.D.'s. Sam did the same.

"You two look a little young to be FBI agents."the lady remarked, letting her eyes rest an Sam, who started squirming under her scrutiny.

"They like us that way nowadays."Dean said, giving her a smile and wink."The people, women especially, seem to be more cooperative for some reason when we're on the case. We're older tthan we look though, bet you could never guess how old my partner is."

Looking at him, her brow squinted in thought, she finally answered,"He can't be any more than 22 or so, though he looks even younger than that."

"Good guess, but _no_. He's 36. Baby face fools people every time. Now, can we get a room for the night at least, maybe longer?"he asked, leaning on the counter and smiling.

"Sure, thanks to the murders we haven't had much business lately, it kinda turns the tourists off and all. Here's your key, you're in room 28. Enjoy your stay."she said, and he took the key.

"Thank you kindly Mrs..? I didn't catch your(Sentence interrupted by big sneeze)Excuse me. I didn't catch your name."he finished, pulling out a tissue.

"Mrs. Brandon. My names Mrs. Brandon."she replied, pulling out a can of Lysol and spraying it in the air near Dean, causing him to sneeze even more.

"Well, thanks Mrs. Brandon."Sam said, grabbing Deans arm, and dragging him to the exit door.

"There's a drug store right down the street unless you need to get something for that nasty cold you have."she said loudly as they were exiting the door.

"Gee, _thanks_."Dean muttered sarcastically, after having finally gotten over being sprayed with Lysol in his face.What about a poison control center?he added to himself, thinking about how much of the spray he had probably inhaled.

They got their bags and found their room, which was actually a nice one, and Dean flopped down on one of the double beds, hiding his face under one of the pillows.

"Come on, lets get going. We need to go down to the sheriffs office and find out what we can before it gets dark."Sam said, kicking Dean in his leg, that was hanging off the side of the bed.

"Alright."Dean said with a sigh, reluctantly rising from the bed."Then we're gonna have to make a stop by the old drug store, cause I got more snot in my head than I thought existed."his statement emphasized by yet another sneeze, only this time followed by a hacking cough.

"You're disgusting."Sam said to his brother as they walked out to the car, this time Dean opting to drive, and made their way to the police department.

"Let me do the talking."Sam instructed. Usually Dean did it, because he was a very smooth talker, and lying seemed to come to him as easily as truth, but looking at him, Sam saw he had a bright red nose from rubbing it with tissue's, and watery eyes."Alright, Rudolph?"he asked.

"Rudolph? What's that supposed to mean?"Dean said, with a look of confusion, which turned to a scowl moments later,"That's so not nice Sammy. Making fun of your poor sick brother. You should be ashamed of yourself."he said, trying to look pitiful.

"That whole pitiful act might have a little more effect on me if you hadn't taken a picture of me laying in bed with my hair sticking up, a bright red face, and runny nose, when I had the flu that time, and made copies to pass out at school." Sam said, smirking.

"Don't be a drama queen Sammy, it wasn't that bad a picture."Dean replied.

"I had on Superman underwear, Dean."Sam said haughtily.

"Well, you have to admit, it did get lots of attention from the ladies for you.They did call you "Super Man" after that."

"They called me _Super Baby_, Dean. I was 16. Do you know how traumatizing that can be at that age?"Sam asked, with a frown.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry, _as if I haven't already told you that a hundred times before_, anyway we're here. So let's move in agent Winchester."Dean said with a chuckle.

They walked inside of the small Sheriffs office, and approached the front desk, where your stereo-typical, small town overweight police officer sat typing.

"Hello Officer, We're agents Winchester and Malone."Sam said, putting his hand out to shake the man's pudgy one, and praying under his breath that he had remembered the correct name on Dean's fake I.D."We're from the FBI and we're here to investigate the recent string of murders that have taken place."and showed his I.D. to the officer, as Dean did the same.

"Steve Long. FBI, huh? Must think it's something pretty bad to involve people so high up."he said, after returning the hand shake.

"I'd say the murders of five children _is_ bad enough,in my book."Sam replied, curtly, disliking the officer immediately.

"Six."the man said, picking up a pack of gum and putting a piece in his mouth.

"_What_?"Dean asked quickly.

"There's six now. Some hikers just found another one, a young girl, near Deke's Fishing Lake not an hour ago."Long answered, chewing slowly.

"Where is that? How do we get there from here?"Sam asked.

"Go down main street about a mile to the left, then take the first right on Millers circle, go another mile and a half or so and you'll see the sign for the Lake. Can't miss it."Long replied."Sheriff Martin's already out there, so they'll be several black and white's there too."

"Martin? He wouldn't be any relation to the Martin boy who was a witness to one of the murders would he?"Sam asked.

"Yes he would, he's Jeff's father. Poor kid was there this time too. Must be horribly traumatizing for him to see 4 of his friends murdered."Long said, blowing a bubble with his gum.

"Excuse me? Did you say he saw_ four _of the murders?"Sam asked in surprise.

"Sure did."Long answered, then turned his back and resumed his typing, dismissing them.

After walking back out to the car, Sam commented to Dean,"I'm willing to bet little Jeffrey Martin knows more about what's going on than people think."

Dean didn't reply, and Sam looked at him,seeing him massaging his temples with his fingers with a pained expression on his face."_Hello_, earth to Dean."Sam said, nudging his brother with his shoulder.

"What? Oh, sorry. Didn't realize you were talking to me."Dean said, looking at Sam apologetically.

"Who else would I be talking to?"Sam asked, and when his brother just shrugged, put out his hand and said,"I think I should drive again, since you might not notice the _road_ and all."and Dean tossed him the keys.

"Just be careful."Dean muttered and got into the car,leaning his head against the seat and closing his eyes.

Definitely gotta stop at the drug store when we get back, Sam said mentally.

They followed Long's directions and shortly pulled into the parking area for the lake, seeing about seven police cars, a ambulance, and several TV vans.

"Looks like it's gonna be a media circus"Sam commented as he and Dean got out and started walking towards the taped off area.

"Always is."Dean replied, then started coughing again, and Sam stood there waiting for it to pass before they continued on.

"Sorry boys, there's a police investigation going on, and there will be no admittance to anyone until it's concluded."A muscular cop with a badge reading,Morris, said, as they reached the taped area.

"We're agents Winchester and Malone."Sam said, him and Dean, once again showing their badges."We're FBI and have been sent to help in the investigation."

After a moment, the big man smiled briefly, and stepping aside said,"Sorry bout that fellows. Just there's lots of media folk trying to get past and you can never be too careful."

"We understand."Sam said with a knowing smile, and they walked further in to where a large group of policemen and e.m.s. workers were gathered.

They moved towards the group, but stopped in their tracks when they saw her.

The girls body was still in the same place it had been found. Hanging upside down from a tree that she was tied to a limb on.

She had no shirt on, but all her other clothes were still intact, and deep cuts ran from her stomach to her throat.

They had gutted her, but there was no blood on the body or anywhere else.And her face was frozen in a look of terror.

"Holy shit."Dean said, then walked a bit away from the other people, proceeded to empty the contents of his stomach, then returned a moment later.

"You alright?"Sam asked.

"No."Dean answered truthfully, but went on with Sam to talk to the sheriff.

After explaining who they were, and having to once again convince someone they were old enough to be FBI agents, Sam started asking questions.

"How long has she been dead?"

"Body temp shows it must have happened not long ago.Two to three hours at the most."Sheriff Martin replied.

"And this is the exact same way the others were found?"Sam asked.

"Yes. The murders share the same M.O. to the tee."

"I understand your son was here to witness this along with three of the others, correct?"Sam asked.

"Unfortunately, yes."Martin replied..

"Think we could talk to him?"Sam asked.

"Maybe in a bit. He's still kinda shaken up right now, which I'm sure you know is quite understandable."the sheriff answered, frowning at Sam.

"Alright then, we're just going to have a look around."Sam replied, and the sheriff nodded his head and walked off.

"Am I the only one getting a funky vibe from the old sheriff there?"Sam asked his brother, when the were a distance away.

"Nope, he's definitely a shady character."Dean replied, then, spotting a young woman standing at the edge of the group surrounding the body, said," I'm gonna talk to some of the locals here, see if they can tell us anything helpful."

"Okay, but I'd wipe my nose there _Romeo_."Sam replied, and receiving a punch in the arm, moved off on his own.

"Hello there."Dean said, walking up to stand beside the woman, and giving her his best smile.

"Hi."she replied, smiling in return.

"I'm agent Malone, with the FBI. I and my partner are here to look into the killings, and I was just wanting to get some input from the locals. Do you mind?" he asked.

"Not at all. Ask away?"she replied.

"Did you personally know any of the victims?"he asked.

Smiling at him, she replied,"As a matter of fact I did."

"Oh, really? Good, what can you tell me about the one you knew?"he asked, thinking how lucky it was that the first person he questioned was so cooperative, _and _actually knew one of the victims.

"She was a very vibrant, active, typical ten-year old. Very well behaved, never gave me any problems what-so-ever."the woman answered.

"Oh, so it's the latest victim you knew?"Dean asked, because as far as they knew, this was the only girl who had been killed."What were you, her baby-sitter or something?"

"Actually, no Agent Malone."

"Dean, call me Dean,"he interrupted, giving her an encouraging smile.

"Ok, Dean. No I wasn't Ashley's baby-sitter. I'm her mother, Kate Benson."she answered.

"What? Her mother? God, I didn't realize that. "he said, unable to hide the look of surprise on his face, then added quickly."I'm so sorry about your loss."

"No, It's okay Dean. _Really_. Ashley led a long, happy life, and I'm sure she's in a much better place now."Kate said calmly, still smiling.

"_Excuse _me?"Dean asked."You'll have to forgive my obvious ignorance to your line of thought, but wasn't your daughter only 10 yrs. old?"

"That's right, Ashley just turned 10 last month."she replied."We had her a big princess birthday party. She was Cinderella, that was her favorite."

"And you think someone who was only _10_, led a _long_, happy life?"Dean asked incredulously. He didn't know if it was his headache or just the all over crappy way he was feeling, but Mrs. Benson and her , light-hearted, care-free attitude, was really getting to him.

My god, her daughter had been murdered, and she was standing here talking to a stranger, smiling and laughing, with her hanging from a tree not twenty feet away.

"Why, _yes_ I do. She had everything she wanted in life, and was never unhappy."she answered lightly."Everything happens for a reason Dean, so who are we to question fate?"

At that moment Sam was walking towards them and heard his brother's next words.

"You can't be serious. You're daughter is _hanging_ from a tree, with all her blood drained from her body!"Dean practically yelled."And you think it happened for a reason? And that it's _fate_?"

"Agent Malone!"Sam said loudly, walking up and grabbing his arm."Can I talk to you over here for a moment please?"

"Sammy, you just have to hear this."Dean said angrily."Go ahead Mrs.Benson, tell him how your daughters better off dead!"

"Dean! Stop!"Sam said, forcefully pulling him away, and added to Mrs. Benson,"Thank you for talking to us ma'am, I'm sorry if my partner has upset you."

"That's fine. I wouldn't expect someone who isn't familiar with our ways to understand."she replied,then seeing a man beckon to her, smiled, and walked to join him.

Pulling Dean back to where the car was parked, Sam turned angrily to him and asked,"What the hell was that all about? Are you trying to blow our cover before we even get started on the case? Unless you didn't know, FBI agents don't usually act like that!"

"Did you _hear _her Sam? She didn't even seemed fazed by the fact her daughter had just been murdered!"Dean replied, pacing angrily.

"Regardless of how she's reacting, you can't do...what you just did, Dean! I understand how you feel, and totally agree with you, but just don't do that again. Okay?"

Dean stopped pacing and nodded him head,"Alright. Did you find out anything?"

"As a matter of fact, I found out alot. Lets head back to the inn and I'll fill you in on the way."Sam replied.

They got in the car, Sam driving once again, and he told Dean what he'd found out.

"Of the victims who have been murdered 5 were children of town council members,and the other was the mayors son. And by what I heard from one of the officers at the scene the parents have all reacted the way Mrs. Benson did. He said they acted as if it was something they expected. He said they had a serious lack of emotion in his opinion."Sam reported.

Dean sneezed and blew his nose, before asking,"So you think this has something to do with the leaders of the town then?"

"Seems that way to me. And another interesting fact, they were all ten years old. What are the chances of a serial killer just randomly picking out six kids who are all ten?"

"You heard the remark Mrs. Benson made didn't you? About how someone who wasn't familiar with the ways around here wouldn't understand?"Dean asked.

"Yep, that just adds to my theory that somehow the council members and mayor knew this was going to happen."

"So where does the sheriff's son fit in then?"Dean asked."He must have been friends with the dead kids, because he was there when four of them were murdered."

"He is 10 yrs. old too, you know. And his father is the sheriff, a pretty important authority figure around here."Sam said, frowning.

"So you think he might be in danger too?"

"I don't know honestly, but tomorrow we're going to find out. We'll go talk to the officer again that I met today. He seemed more than eager to help out in any way he could. So first thing tomorrow we'll pay him a visit."Sam replied.

"Then we can hit the library and try to find out what we can about this eyeless man who kills children with a dagger. There's bound to be something about it somewhere, always is."Dean added. This followed by more coughing.

"We're also going to talk to Jeff Martin, whether his father likes it or not."

After stopping off at the drug store so Dean could stock up on medicine,they reached the Inn, and having decided on their plans for the following day, went to bed.

TBC

What do you think so far? Let me know!


	2. Let the truth be known

Title:The Blood Harvest

Author:Coleharley(Me)

Rating:PG-13 or Maybe R(some really graphic scenes)

Characters:Dean and Sam(some Oc's thrown in too)

Summary:The brothers go to a small town to investigate the ritualistic murders of children taking place there.

Warnings:Blood and Death (nothing too bad though)

Authors note:I do so love to torture the Winchester brothers, so be warned, there's some major owie's coming up in the future chapters.

Disclaimer:Don't own them(wish I did)

The Blood Harvest- Chapter. 2

Sam woke up early the next morning, the bedside clock reading 6:15. He laid there for a while, attempting to fall back to sleep , but soon

finding that it just wasn't going to happen, got up and went and took a nice long shower,then returned to the bedroom to wake Dean up.

Flopping down on his brother's bed, he said loudly,"Time to get up you lazy bum!"

"Leave me alone Sam."Dean muttered hoarsely, his face buried in his pillow.

"We've got work to do Dean. So sleepy time is over."Sam said bouncing on the bed.

"Can't it wait another hour?"Dean asked."I didn't get any sleep last night due to coughing my _lungs_ out."

Sam knew his brother was telling the truth because he had actually awakened him several times doing it, but they had a case to work on, and no time to waste.

"I'm sorry bro, but we're kinda pushed for time and all. Who knows when this thing could kill again."Sam replied.

"Fine!" Dean said hoarsely and reluctantly got up from his bed and headed towards the shower, giving Sam a mean look as he passed him, and Sam smiled brightly in return.

Ten minutes later Dean emerged, dressed and ready to go.

"Come on, what are we waiting for?"he asked Sam.

They went and got in the car, and Sam turned to Dean and asked,"So, where should we go first?"

Dean answered ,"I'll drop you by the police station so you can talk to your pal from yesterday, and I'll go and talk to the Martin kid."

"Sounds good."Sam replied,then looked at Dean with concern when he started hacking again."You alright?"he asked.

"No, but like you said, we're on a case and pressed for time, So I'll worry about _me_ later."Dean replied.

"There's a doctors office right near the sheriffs department, why don't you stop by and get some real medicine?"Sam suggested.

"Maybe I will."Dean replied, and mentally planned to do just that. He was a person who really enjoyed his sleep, and didn't want to have another night like the last.

He dropped Sam off and then realized he had no idea where the Martin boy lived, so he stopped at a phone booth and looked up the sheriff's address, knowing it would be listedbecause he was the sheriff.

Bingo. There it is. 218 Ridgecrest circle.

Stopping to get gas, Dean asked the attendant the way to get to the address, and then left.

Reaching the address, he saw the sheriff lived in a two-story brick house with a large in ground pool and a gazebo in the back.

His job must pay pretty well, Dean thought as he rang the doorbell.

A older woman answered the door, and seeing him standing there smiled and asked,"Can I help you?"

"Hi, Mrs. Martin?" Dean asked.

"Oh, no dear. I'm Mrs. Campbell, the Martin's babysitter."she replied.

"Are Mr. or Mrs. Martin here?"he asked, quickly putting a tissue to his nose when he felt the familiar urge to sneeze coming.

"No, they're both working. Is there something I can help you with?"she asked.

"Well, I'm Dean Malone with the FBI and I'm in town to investigate the killings that have taken place, and I understand Jeff Martin was present at four of the murders and would like to have a word with him to get his account of what happened."Dean explained."Is he here?"

Frowning, she answered,"Yes, but I don't know if it would be such a good idea for you to talk to him right now. I need to ask his father first."

"I talked to sheriff Martin yesterday and he said it would be fine."Dean lied, giving her his most convincing smile.

"Well, I guess it would be okay then. Since he said so."she said, and opened the door further, inviting him to walk in.

The house was nicely furnished by someone with expensive tastes, and once again Dean wondered just how much the sheriff made on his job.

'Let me go get Jeff."she said, and headed upstairs, and several minutes later reappeared, a freckle faced blonde boy in tow.

"Jeff, this is Agent malone, he's here to ask a few questions about what happened to your friends. Would that be okay with you?"

"Sure, why wouldn't it be?"the boy replied haughtily.

The sitter suddenly sniffed at the air and said,"Oh my, I think my bread is burning. I need to go take it out, will you two be alright for a moment alone?"

"_Yes,_the little boy practically yelled at her."I'm not a _baby_ Maggie!"

Looking flustered and her face turning red the older woman quickly hurried away after giving Dean a tight-lipped smile.

"So, _what_ do you want to know?"Jeff asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest and scowling.

"I was just wanting you to tell me everything you saw. It might assist me and my partner in finding the man who killed your friends."Dean replied.

"First of all, _Dean_, it wasn't a man. I've already told everyone that five hundred times, so for you to be a FBI agent, you sure don't know much. Secondly, those kids were not my friends. They were just who my parents have _forced_ me to play with my _whole_ life. Don't get me wrong, I didn't want them to die. They just weren't my type of people. Mom and dad said that we were pillars of the community though,and have to keep a good image, so I can't hang around my friends from school."

Jeff replied in a rude tone, then added,"I guess they'll have to let me now though, since all my fellow pillars are gone."

"Who are your friends at school Jeff, members of a cult?"Dean let slip out, chuckling , which caused him to once again start coughing.

"Ha, ha, very funny agent _dumb ass_."The boy said, sticking his tongue out at Dean.

"Do your parents know what a dirty little mouth their son has?"Dean asked.

"Does my dad _really_ know you were coming to talk to me?"Jeff countered, smiling smugly when Dean frowned and saying."Didn't think so."

"Okay, maybe not, but I need to know a few things and you were an eyewitness, actually the only witness, so I told a _little_ fib."Dean admitted.

"Okay, then ask away, but you better hurry because my dad comes home for lunch every day, and will be here in a half hour or so."Jeff said, leading Dean back outside, then sitting down on the steps.

Dean sat beside him, and asked."Will you tell me again what this thing that killed your friends looked like? I _know _you said that you've already told people five hundred times, but_ I _wasn't one of them,so I need to hear it."

"Alright, it had on a long black coat, a black hat, kinda like a pilgrim wore. Know what I mean?"he asked. Dean nodded his head, and Jeff continued,"It did look like a man I suppose, but it didn't have any eyes, just big black holes where they should have been, and it looked really nasty, all pale and dirty. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, it had a really big knife that it used, more like a dagger really. Like one they use in horror movies when they're sacrificing a virgin or something."

Dean almost choked when the little boy said virgin, and looked at him in surprise.

"You're parents let you watch that kind of stuff?"he asked in disbelief.

"I can watch or do anything I want. They've always let me."Jeff replied with a shrug.

"_Okay_ then. Tell me about what happened."Dean prompted."Where you were when it took place, and such."

"Deke's fishing lake."the boy replied without hesitation.

"I know that's where it happened last time, but what about others?"Dean asked.

"It happened there _every _time. Did you even_ read _the police reports, dummy?"the boy asked sarcastically.

"Er..sure I did, I just forgot."Dean replied lamely.

"No wonder the FBI never catches anybody."Jeff commented, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, whatever kid. So your parents let you go back and play there again? Knowing what had happened?"Dean asked, after blowing his nose.

"Uh,_ yeah_. Our parent's are the ones who dropped us off. You don't think we walked all the way there, do you?"Jeff asked.

"Does that not seem a little_ strange _to you Jeff? Your parents taking you to play where your friends have been murdered?"Dean asked, frowning.

"Of course it does."Jeff answered indignantly."I'm not stupid, you know."

" I met the little girl's mother at the lake yesterday, and she didn't really seem that shaken or upset by what had happened."Dean remarked.

"None of them do. Not even my dad, and he's the sheriff you know."Jeff replied a bit sadly.

"Yeah, I know. So, is there anything else you can think of that might be helpful?"Dean asked.

"No, not really."Jeff answered as they stood up."Wait, you know it has happened every three days, right?"he asked.

"Of course I know that."Dean replied, while thinking to himself, no I didn't know that.

"Then you know if it's going to happen again, that it will be tomorrow."Jeff said.

"It won't happen again."Dean said."I can assure you of that."

"I hope you're right, because _I'm_ the only one left now."Jeff said, looking at Dean solemnly.

"I promise you I'm right Jeff."Dean replied."I just want _you _to promise me that you won't go anywhere near that lake, okay? No matter what _anyone _else says."

"You think my dad and the others have something to do with this don't you?"Jeff asked quietly, and Dean marveled at how mature the boy seemed for a ten year old.

"I'm not sure, but maybe."Dean answered truthfully, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen and pad he kept there and wrote down his phone number at the Inn."If anything happens, call me at this number, okay?"he instructed, then quickly added his cell # to it."And if I or my brother..er..I mean my partner aren't there you can reach me on my cell. Don't hesitate to call, okay Jeff?"

"Okay, Dean."the boy replied, and he left, looking thoughtfully one last time at the little boy who was sitting alone on the steps as he pulled away.

Across town, Sam had uncovered a few surprises of his own. After Dean had dropped him at the police station, he had webt inside and found the young officer from the day before, but when he saw Sam he got a strange look on his face.

"Hey, remember me from yesterday?"Sam asked.

Looking around, the other man answered in a whisper,"Yeah, but I can't talk to you right now."

"What? Why not?"Sam asked, a perplexed look on his face."And why are we whispering?"

"So the sheriff or one of his minions won't hear us."the young man replied.

"Aren't _you_ one of his minions?"Sam asked.

"Not _this_ time."the man replied with a grim smile, then asked,"You know the cafe down the road called Annie's?" still speaking in a whisper.

"Yeah, I think so."Sam answered.

"Meet me there in half an hour if you want to talk. That's when Sheriff Martin goes on lunch so I should be able to sneak out unnoticed."the man said, and with a curt nod, walked away.

What was that all about? Sam wondered as he approached the desk where the same officer was manning it as yesterday.

"Can you tell sheriff Martin that I'm here to speak with him?"Sam asked.

"No."he replied quickly, not even looking at him.

"_What?"_Sam asked in surprise.

"I said no. Sheriff told me if you or your _partner _came by to tell you to back off, and he _knows_."the man replied haughtily.

Leaning in closer to the man, Sam lowered his voice to almost a whisper and asked,"He knows _what?"_

"Didn't say. All I know is that you are not welcome here. So _get lost_!"he replied angrily, his lip curling in a snarl.

"You can't talk to me like that."Sam retorted, playing up to the fact he was supposedly an FBI agent."Do you _want_ to lose your job?"

"I'll worry about that problem when it arises."he replied calmly, then added,"And he's not here anyway, so you're wasting your time."

"I didn't see him leave, and his car was out front when I came in."Sam said, raising a eyebrow at the man.

"There _is_ a back door genius. He got a call from his boy's babysitter and took off out the rear exit."the man said, with a smug grin, then walked into one of the rooms in the back, disappearing from Sams sight.

"Shit!"Sam exclaimed loudly, getting strange looks from the people standing around him in the sheriff's office, and smiling apologetically them, made a quick exit.

Hopefully Dean will be gone before he gets there.

There's nothing I can do anyway, because I don't have the car.

Looking at his watch, he saw almost half an hour had passed, and made his way to Annie's cafe to meet the officer.

He walked in and immediately saw the man sitting at the booth in the rear corner, and smiling at the waitress, made his way back and slid into the booth across from him.

"Well, here I am."Sam stated with a smile.

"Sorry about all the "Cloak and Dagger" type stuff, but I was asked not to discuss anything more about the case with you, actually it was more like I was _ordered_ not to."the man said, smiling apologetically at Sam before continuing,"By the way my name is Ian Rutherford. I didn't get the chance to formally introduce myself yesterday."

"Okay Ian, so why exactly did the sheriff tell you not to talk to me anymore?"

"Because he doesn't want you to stop what's supposed to happen tomorrow."the man answered matter-of-factly.

"That definitely peaks my curiosity Ian, so what_ is _supposed to happen tomorrow?"Sam asked.

"The Reverend is supposed to kill Jeffrey Martin, who will be the final sacrifice."Ian answered.

Sam spit out the tea he had just taken a drink of, and asked unbelievingly,"You mean Martin is going to _let_ this Reverend kill his _son_?

"Yes."

"And I suppose he just _offered_ this information up to you?"Sam asked sarcastically.

"No, it's not really a secret Mr. Winchester, at least not to town folk."Ian replied.

"The _whole_ town knows?"Sam asked"And they've just stood around and let innocent children be killed?"

"Well, it's really been more of a town legend really. The story's been told for a long time, but up until now, that's _all_ we'd thought it was, a story."Ian replied with a frown."But when the murders started we knew it was all true, especially when we found out it was the town leaders children."

"What is the story?"

"About a hundred or so years ago, this town was home to a group of settlers from England. Their leader was a man that was known as the Reverend, although I suppose he had a real name too. They lived here for many years, and the surrounding areas thought them to be peaceful.

Then a new family moved to the outskirts of the settlement, and they had a liitle boy who started paling around with some of the local boys. He was very fond of the town leader and always had great tales

to relate to his parents about him, for a _while_ at least. One day the young children just started disappearing into thin air. Not all of them, but odd thing was, the ones who _did_ vanish were all 10,also let me add that Cotton Ridge was a very abundant mining town, and the town people lacked for nothing, _especially_ the town leaders."

Sam nodded, listening intently.

"Well, the boy, the one from the out-of-town family, comes home one night all upset and tells his parents he knows what's happened to the missing children. The mother automatically suggests taking the boy to the Reverend to tell him what he knows. The boy goes into hysterics at this point, screaming that they _can't _go to him, or _any_ of the other town leaders because they already know what's going on. He then proceeded to tell them that the Reverend is the_ one _who is killing the kids, and the children's parents are letting him do it, even bringing them to him _themselves_ and watching as he kills them."Ian said emphatically.

"The boys parents knew their son well, and believed him, because he never lied. I know that's hard to believe, a child who always tells the truth, but apparently they held such faith in his words that they went to a neighboring town and found a group of people who were willing to accompany them to Cotton Ridge so they could confront the Reverend. A sort of lynch mob, I guess you could say, and the boy led them to where he had witnessed the Reverend murder a child, the area which

is now known as Deke's Fishing Lake, and sure enough, they found him, and several of the town council members there, in the process of watching the Reverend drain the blood from one of their children. They were too late to save the child, but they quickly overtook the Reverend, who swore he was doing nothing wrong, that it was for the good of the town. That the sacrifices from the Blood Harvest, as he called it,were making it prosperous, and that the children's parents had

agreed to him doing what he'd done, had actually offered them up at birth, knowingly permitting him to kill them when they reached the age of 10. He said that age was just right, when they were between being a child and hitting puberty. Needless to say, the mob didn't care what he, or the town council members had to say in his defense. All they knew was that there was dead children and he had done it. So, they first put his eyes out with a poker, then cut him open and hung him from a tree, just as he'd done to the kids, and let him bleed to death. Kinda poetic I suppose, the man dying the way he'd been killing."Ian said, laughing

bitterly.

"Okay, I get that they killed him and all, but how do we get that it's the _same _person committing these murders?"Sam asked.

"Story goes, one of the council members, who had been a devout follower of the Reverend, made a deal with the devil several years later, when the town had gone under, the mines totally empty. He and some of the other's offered in return for wealth and prosperity that every thirty years they would offer up seven of the town's children to be sacrificed, and I guess they got their wish, because the town suddenly sprung back up. And looking back in the history books, it's recorded that periodically throughout time, children have disappeared into thin air. Now it's happening again, and according to the legend's time line there is

only two more days for the last sacrifice of the "Blood Harvest" to be made."Ian concluded.

"Why has no one noticed this until now? Like other town's and such?"Sam asked sceptically.

"I think it's pretty easy to cover something up when the mayor _and_ sheriff are involved don't you?"Ian asked in reply.

"If that's so, then why let it leak out now after keeping it hidden so long?"

"Times have changed Mr. Winchester, people don't see things the same now as they did before. So someone leaked it to the press."Ian answered with a shrug,"and in the majority of the town's defense, we thought it was an urban legend. After the last several weeks , I know differently, and want to stop it from happening again."

"You've come to the right person, Ian."Sam said solemnly."This type of thing is I and my partners specialty."

"Look Sam, I , and the sheriff, know that you and your partner aren't really FBI agents. He called in and asked about you yesterday, but I get the feeling that you can do something about this so I decided to confide in you, and will do what I can to help you, but you need to know that _they _do know what is going on, and have allowed it, so it's not going to be safe for you."Ian stated.

"Well, I'll be frank with you, I and my _brother_ deal with this sort of thing all the time, I guess you could say it's our line of business, so we're more than prepared for anything that might happen, but an extra body would be greatly appreciated if you're really willing."Sam replied.

"You bet I am. Who knows, some day I might be sheriff, and I sure the hell ain't going to let some freak kill my kid just to insure that I have money."Ian said, with conviction.

At that moment Dean entered the door, carrying a bag from the pharmacy, and after being introduced to Ian sat down beside his brother, and they swapped stories.

"And I stopped by the old doctors office and after fussing at me for waiting so long to see someone, he informed me I have a bad case of the flu,and gave me a nice little prescription for some powerful drugs."Dean said, with a smile."No more sleepless nights for me."and gave a big sneeze, then added,"And another interesting

piece of info, the nurse at the doctors office, Becky, told me that hardly anyone is ever sick in Cotton Ridge. So I guess they get that thrown in as an extra treat for letting the freak kill their kids."

Dean reached across the table and grabbed a handful of the fries Sam had just received, and shoving them in his mouth said,"You really should make a point of visiting the doctor's office Sammy, it's worth it just to meet nurse Becky."raising his eyebrows up and down as he spoke."But, now that I think about it, you can meet her anyway, when I bring her to the Inn for a _booty_ call."he added, triumphantly pulling a piece of paper from his coat, with her name and number written

on it.

"You are unbelievable."Sam said, shaking his head at his grinning brother."We're here to solve a case, not get booty calls! Does your mind stay in the gutter?"

"Dude, I can't believe you got Becky's digits."Ian said, looking at Dean almost reverently."She's like, only the hottest woman in town."

"What can I say? I'm a chick magnet."Dean replied, trying to sound modest, while shrugging.

"Oh _give me a break_, don't encourage him on Ian!"Sam exclaimed, rolling his eyes at his brother.

Hearing the door to the cafe open again, the group at the table looked up, and was surprised to see the sheriff walking purposefully towards them,a look of rage on his face.

He reached them and without saying a word, jerked Dean up from his seat.

"Whoa! Haven't you ever heard of police brutality there, Sheriff Martin?"Dean asked in a sarcastic tone, while smiling at him.

"What the hell gives you the right to talk to my son without my permission boy?"he replied angrily, shoving Dean roughly against the table.

"I think the better question is,what gives _you_ the right to let some monster murder innocent children just so _you_ can line _your_ pockets?"Dean asked loudly, shoving the older man back just as roughly.

"I don't know what you're talking about you little bastard."the sheriff said loudly, looking nervously around the room to see who was listening."And I won't stand for some little lying punks who come to my town claiming to be something they're not, spreading such accusations around!"

"_Please!_ Give me a break! You are the one who is lying, and these people know that! Do you really believe that everyone in Cotton Ridge are dumb asses? You have no leads, no suspects, and hell, the dead kids parents are walking around smiling, playing pinnuckle like nothings happened."Dean replied, incredulously, then leaned in closer, and added in a loud stage whisper,"Might want to tell them they should at least wait until their kids are buried to start throwing parties, Sheriff."

"That's it."the Sheriff exclaimed, then reared back and punched Dean, who fell up against the table, a stunned look on his face.

Sam jumped up and kneeled near his brother."Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Takes more than some old geezer landing a sucker punch to effect me."Dean replied, rubbing his chin and grinning.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"Sam asked angrily, walking slowly towards the sheriff, Ian rising from the table also to help Dean up, then they both stood behind Sam."Why would you willingly let children be slaughtered? You're the Sheriff, you're supposed to protect them, not aid in their murders."

"I'm warning the both of you, stay out of this, it doesn't concern you, and _you_,"he said, looking at Ian,"are _fired_. You're a disgrace to the force."

"Oh, go to hell."Ian replied shortly."_You're_ the disgrace!"

"And if you try to harm a _hair_ on your sons head, you better believe you're going to have to endure five times the amount of pain, you might inflict on him."Dean added, glaring at him.

"Once again, I'll say I don't know what you're talking about."he replied loudly, then lowering his voice to a whisper added,"consider this your final warning, leave town now, or you'll regret it. I promise you."and he turned and stalked out.

"We're ain't going nowhere, Smokey!"Dean yelled at his retreating back, thenAfter a moments silence said,"Well, that went well."sarcastically, rubbing his sore chin.

They payed for their drinks and food, then left the cafe, Ian joining them, and went back to their room at the inn.

"So what's the plan?"Ian asked.

Dean, who had flopped onto the bed as soon as they reached their room said,"You take this question Sam. I took my medicine and now my head feels disconnected from the rest of me."

"Well, we need to find out how to get rid of this Reverend, so I guess we need to go hit the books to try and find out ."Sam answered, then seeing Dean was about to fall asleep added,"You can sit the trip to the library out bro, so you can get some rest before the big finale that I know's coming."

"Thanks."Dean replied, ten minutes later Sam and Ian left, and he fell asleep.

Several hours later Dean was roused from his sleep by the shrill sound of the phone ringing, and groping around the night stand until locating it, picked the reciever up and said sleepily,"Hello?"

"Is this Dean?"a child's voice asked.

"Yeah."he replied groggily.

"It' s me Jeffrey Martin."the boy said, and Dean automatically popped to attention.

"Jeff. Hey buddy what's going on?"he asked with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"My dad's taking me to the lake _tonight _Dean, and I'm scared."he answered ,crying softly.

"Hey, don't you worry Jeff. I'll head out there now and meet you, okay?"Dean asked in his most reassuring voice.

"Okay. You promise?"the boy asked, his voice shaky.

"Scouts honor. I told you I wouldn't let anything happen to you, didn't I?"he replied.

"Yeah, well I got to go cause he's coming."Jeff said, and Dean heard the click of the phone being laid down, and jumped from the bed, grabbing his coat, and headed out the door.

He said a prayer of thanks when he saw his car still in the parking lot. Sam and Ian had taken Ian's police cruiser to the library.

Dean briefly thought about how he should have left Sam a note saying where he'd went and how he shouldn't be going alone.

Oh well, no time to think about that now.

The sheriff lived fairly close to the lake, so Dean broke the speed limit, hoping to get to the lake before the man and his son did.

Arriving not thirty minutes later, Dean was dismayed to see the sheriffs police cruiser already parked there.

I'm too late, he thought sadly, but after exiting the car, he heard the sound of a child screaming, and quickly ran towards the area it had come from.

He was greeted by the sight of the Reverend standing over a cowering Jeff.

"Hey ugly."Dean said loudly, and was pleased when the dead man turned to face him."Get away from him!"he yelled, pulling the gun from his pocket that he'd got from the trunk of his car moments earlier.

Making a noise that sounded like a laugh, the thing turned it's attention back to Jeff, and Dean fired the gun, hitting the man with all three shots, but not effecting him in the least.

"Not good."he remarked aloud, and seeing the Reverend had the frightened child cornered, ran and grabbed the hand holding the knife.

"No Dean, get away!"the little boy yelled."It's a trap!

Struggling with the much stronger dead man, Dean yelled at Jeff, a confused look on his face," I don't care! Get out of here now! Run!"

"Oh how stupid you are."the sheriffs voice said as he emerged from the shadows."This is too easy."

"Dean! Listen to me! Get away from him! He's here to kill you, not me!"Jeff yelled in warning, but it came to late. His father grabbed him, and held him in place and all he could do was watch in horror as the scene unfolded in front of him.

Finally wrestling the thing to the ground, Dean was shocked when it pulled him down also, and before he could react, landed on top of it, and the knife sunk into his stomach, causing him to howl in pain.

The sheriff smiled smugly,released Jeff, and approached where the two lay on the ground.

The Reverend rose,jerked the knife from Deans stomach with a twist, and after turning his face in Jeff's direction to smile hideously at him, vanished.

Sheriff Martin stood over Dean, who was gasping and gripping his stomach.

"I warned you not to interfere boy, so now you have to face the consequences."he said, then grabbed the now unconscious Dean by the arms, dragging him to his police cruiser where he hefted him into the back seat, and slammed the door.

He turned back towards Jeff, who was now sobbing, and ordered him to get in the front seat.

They pulled out from the lake, leaving Deans parked car, and drove back to their house, where they were met by Jeffs mother in the driveway.

"Oh god! What have you done?"she exclaimed, seeing the crumpled form of Dean laying in the back seat.

The sheriff got out and walked around to the rear and opened the door as he answered,"I did what I had to do!" and hearing Dean moan, knew he had awakened, and taking his gun from its holster, pointed it at the injured man."Get out."

"Fuck you."Dean gasped out defiantly."Why don't you just go ahead and kill me?"

"I'm the sheriff boy, not a murderer."he replied.

Dean snorted at that.

"But, I might just become one if you don't do as I say!"the sheriff said angrily, and grabbed a shocked Jeff, pointing his gun at him."Now! Get! Out!"

"You won't kill him. He's your meal ticket."Dean grunted.

"Try me."he replied, and the look he had in his eyes convinced Dean, that the man _would_ do it.

"Okay."Dean said, and slowly sat up, biting his lip against the wave of pain that passed through him so he wouldn't yell out.

He wasn't going to give this sadistic bastard the joy of hearing him do so.

He finally got out of the car and stood unsteadily against it, fighting back nausea as he tried to remain upright.

"Jean, go open the door to the cellar."the sheriff ordered, and his wife looking at him with frightened eyes, did as he instructed.

"Go!"he said to Dean, nudging him with his gun and Dean started walking unsteadily towards the open door.

They reached the cellar, and the man said,"Get down there."

Dean hesitated for a moment, looking at the dark tomb like cellar.

"What's the matter _Agent_? Scared of the dark?"the man asked snidely, and pushed Dean forward.

He managed to stay standing until he reached the bottom of the stairs, where he collapsed, gasping to his knees.

"Seems you've gotten yourself in quite a pickle doesn't it?"the sheriff asked, and laughing, slammed the door shut, leaving Dean alone with the darkness.

Deans last thought before losing consciousness, while gripping his bleeding stomach was, And I thought having the flu was bad.

Back in town, Sam and Ian arrived back at the Inn, and saw Dean was not in the bed where he'd been when they left.

"His car wasn't out front."Sam said quietly.

But where could he have gone?

TBC

Don't you love cliffhangers? R&R


	3. Where is Dean

Title: The Blood Harvest

Author: Coleharley (Me)

Rating: PG-13 or Maybe R (some really graphic scenes)

Characters: Dean and Sam (some Oc's thrown in too)

Summary: The brothers go to a small town to investigate the ritualistic murders of children taking place there.

Warnings: Blood and Death (nothing too bad though)

Authors Note: I do so love to torture the Winchester brothers, so be warned, there's some major owies coming up in the future chapters.

Disclaimer: Don't own them (wish I did)

The Blood Harvest- Chapter 3

"Where the hell could he be?" Sam asked aloud, pacing nervously in their room. "He didn't leave a note or anything! That is so not like him."

"Look man, I'm sure he's fine." Ian said calmly. "He knows what he's doing, right? I mean, you told me that you guys are always prepared for anything, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did, and we _usually_ are, but Dean's sick and taking that medicine practically knocked him out and, I don't know... something just doesn't feel right." Sam replied, frowning.

"Have you stopped to think that maybe he went to grab some food, or.. " Ian smiled and snapped his fingers as he said," Maybe he called up Becky. "_Yeah_, I bet that's where he is, getting a _booty call!"_

"Well, that _does_ sound like something he would do. He probably thought we'd be gone longer than we were, and he could slip out and get back without us ever knowing." Sam said, shaking his head, and grinning at the thought.

"Your brother is the _man_." Ian commented, as he pulled food from the bag they'd picked up on the way back.

"Ian, exactly how old _are_ you?" Sam asked sarcastically.

"Twenty-four, Sam. But let me say in my defense, you'd have to be gay to not appreciate the fineness of Nurse Becky Timms." he replied.

"I've really got to see this woman then." Sam said. "Maybe she has a sister or something. Who says Dean gets to have all the fun anyway?"

"Oh, she _has_ a sister, Sam, and I'm sure if you wanted her, you could get her real easily." Ian said with a snicker, then added, "because she weighs like five hundred pounds, and has warts on her face!"

"You are not funny." Sam replied, glaring at him, then a thought came to him.

Why don't I just call Dean's cell, he always has it.

He picked up the phone from the bedside table and dialed his brother's number, then listened as it rang and rang until finally Dean's voice came on with his recorded message saying to leave a number and he'd call back.

Sam hung the phone back up with a frustrated sigh.

"Ian, I need to go check around and see if I see Dean's car parked anywhere. He's not answering his cell, and he always answers it. And seeing as how I don't have a car at my disposal, I have to ask you if you would mind paying taxi for a while." Sam said, smiling hopefully at Ian.

"Well, since I _don't_ have a job anymore, and the only thing I had planned tonight was working, I think I can help you out. My fiancé lives near Becky and we can swing by there so I can tell her where I'll be, and you can see if your brother's car is at Becky's. Kinda kill two birds with one stone, and _no,_ I don't have to report to Mandy everything I do, it's just something I consider a common courtesy." he added when Sam smirked at what he'd said.

They reached Mandy's house fairly quickly, and Sam left him the couple alone for a few minutes while he walked three houses down to where Becky lived.

Seeing only a silver Miata in the driveway, he started to head back, then decided to go ring the doorbell and ask the woman if his brother had been there at anytime tonight.

He pushed the buzzer and shortly heard the sound of someone opening the door, and then a woman appeared.

"Hi there." she said, in a silky voice, and Sam momentarily forgot why he had come as he stood there grinning.

Dean and Ian had not been exaggerating in the least, Becky _was_ a hot one. She had long, curly, dark brown hair, green eyes, and a mouth that Sam thought looked just like Angelina Jolie's, with a killer body to boot. That fact greatly accentuated by the spaghetti strapped camisole and short skirt she was wearing.

"Hello." he finally said in return, "Becky?" he asked.

"Yes, and who are _you_?" she asked, looking him slowly over.

"Sam Winchester, um...I believe you met my friend Dean today at the doctors office, and was wondering if you've seen him tonight." he said quickly.

"Dean? Hmm... Let me see. I do remember him at the office today, he's kinda hard to miss, you know." she said, with a giggle. "And though I _did_ give him my number, he hasn't called me, so, no Sam I haven't seen him tonight." she said, with a pout.

"Oh, well thanks for talking to me." Sam mumbled.

"My pleasure, Sam, its not like I had anything else to do since I'm here all by my lonesome self." she replied, then smiling suggestively at him, asked "Would _you_ like to come in and have a drink?"

"Would I ever." he let slip out, then smiling in embarrassment said quickly, "No thanks, Becky, but um… when I find Dean I'll make sure to tell him to give you a call." and turned, walking quickly down the steps, almost tripping on the bottom one.

"Bye now!" she yelled, and, smiling to herself, went back in and closed the door.

Sam walked back into Mandy's yard, still grinning, and Ian and his fiancé immediately started laughing.

"Told you she was hot." Ian said, earning him a hard punch in the gut from Mandy, who, in Sam's opinion, was quite hot herself.

"_What_?" Ian asked, looking at her innocently, and then he turned to Sam. "Well, has he been there?"

"No, she hasn't seen him since this afternoon." he replied, beginning to worry.

"Well, we passed through everything in town on the way here and didn't see his car. So where else is there to look?" Ian asked.

"I don't know." Sam replied.

"What about the lake?" Mandy suggested, and when Ian and Sam looked at her said, "Well, Ian told me the whole deal while you were gone, and seeing as how your brother said he gave Jeff the phone number to his room and his cell number just in case anything happened and he needed to call, it would make sense to check the lake to see if that's what happened since you can't find him anywhere else."

"See why I'm marrying this woman, she's a genius _and_ she's hot." Ian said proudly, lifting her from the ground in a tight hug.

"Yeah, thanks Mandy, that's a great idea, I should've thought of it myself." Sam agreed, grinning at the woman.

After telling Mandy bye and listening to Ian promise her they would be careful, they got in the car and headed towards the lake.

"There's his car!" Sam exclaimed when they pulled into the parking area. They quickly got out and Sam rushed over to see if Dean was in it.

No.

"Dean!" Sam yelled several times, cupping his hands around his mouth. When he received no answer, he opened the car door, and saw that the keys were still in the ignition, which meant whatever Dean had been doing, he was in a hurry.

"Come on." he instructed Ian, and unlocked the trunk to the car, revealing the small weapons armory they had stashed there.

"Pick one." he said to Ian, who after getting over the initial shock of seeing what was in the trunk, picked up a shotgun.

"This I know how to use." he said with a smile as Sam chose a handgun and after making sure they were both loaded, started into the woods, making their way slowly, and carefully, to where the killings always took place.

"No one's here." Ian said when they came out into the empty clearing.

"But his _car's_ here, so he _has_ to be around somewhere." Sam stated.

"This is a small place, Sam, and if he was here, he'd have heard your yelling and answered." Ian said.

"Unless he _couldn't_ answer me." Sam said quietly.

"Hey, what's this?" Ian asked, bending over to pick up a something black from the ground. "It's a gun." he said, in almost a whisper.

"Let me see that!" Sam demanded and jerked it from his hand, shining the mag-lite he'd brought with them on it.

"It's his. It's Dean's." he said slowly, and then shined the flashlight around on the ground to see if they could find anything else.

"Hey, shine it on the ground, over near that tree again." Ian instructed, pointing at the tree he was talking about.

Sam did so, and they both walked over to where the light was illuminating the ground, and a large puddle of water.

"Yeah, so? It's water, Ian; we're at a lake you know." Sam stated, sounding annoyed, and he started to move away.

"Wait, Sam!" Ian said, and with a frustrated sigh, Sam turned back around in time to see him putting his hand into the puddle.

"This ain't water." Ian said, raising his hand, and Sam shining the light on it, gasped when he saw the thick red liquid dripping from Ian's fingers.

"Is that?" he asked in a whisper.

"Blood." Ian replied somberly. "And it's only been here a couple of hours at the most. It's not coagulated yet."

"Oh god, Dean…" Sam said, sitting down heavily on the dirty ground, and putting his head in his hands.

Taking the flashlight from Sam, Ian found a small trail running from the puddle. "Looks like whoever did it, dragged the person down this way." Ian stated, shining the light on the groves dug into the ground by Dean's legs, and following it to the parking area, where it disappeared.

He returned to where Sam was, still sitting with his head in his hands. "Come on, Sam, we don't even know for sure it's Dean's blood." Ian said, kneeling beside him.

"Then who's is it, Ian? And why else would my brother leave his car sitting, with the keys in it? Not to mention the fact we found _his_ gun!" Sam yelled, "So tell me officer, if it's_ not _him, then where the hell is he?"

"Calm down, Sam! Whoever did it, dragged the person back to his car, and must have taken them with them to wherever they were going, so even if it was your brother, he must still be alive or they wouldn't have bothered, now would they?"

Sam sniffed and wiped his eyes on his coat, and Ian realized the younger man must have been crying, but pretended not to notice.

"So who was it then? Who would've gone to the trouble of getting Dean out here and then taking him with them?" Sam asked.

"Who knows for sure? One of the kid's parents maybe? We need to go back to the Inn and work out a plan before we go barging from house to house playing vigilantes though. We _will_ find him, a_live._" Ian said, putting his hand on the younger man's shoulder, and they walked back to the car.

Dean lay, shaking in the dark cellar, singing to himself, in an attempt to remain optimistic, and ignore the pain in his stomach.

"Seventy-nine bottles of beer on the wall, seventy-nine bottles of beer. Take one down and pass it around, Seventy-eight bottles of beer on the wall." he sang and then just stopped. "Who am I kidding?" he said aloud. "I'm gonna_ die _down here." He knew his only hope for rescue would be his brother, and he had been so stupid as to not leave a note or anything stating where he was going.

And tomorrow, that bastard of a sheriff was going to let that thing murder his son, and the knowledge that he could do nothing about it, coupled his pain, and the onset of delirium caused by blood loss, and infection, was more than Dean could take.

He did something he hadn't done in years.

He started crying, feeling loss, regret, helplessness, and many other emotions piled on him at the same time.

Who would take care of Sam, and help find their father?

His brother was strong, he knew that, but he would never be able to do it alone.

And Dean didn't want to die, especially in a dark cellar all by himself.

He rolled over onto his side, and pulling his legs to his chest. He lay there, shaking and sweating.

He must have passed out again at some point, but was pulled back into consciousness by the sound of the cellar door opening. Squinting against the unexpected light shining on him, he couldn't tell who it was at first, but as the small figure drew closer, he realized it was the boy.

Carrying a backpack, after closing the door behind him, Jeff raced down the steps.

"I'm so sorry, Dean." he said quietly, sitting the pack down and lowering himself to a spot beside him. "I promise I wouldn't have called if I'd known what they were going to do to you. When I finally realized, it was too late. You just have to believe me." he pleaded.

"S'okay, Jeff." Dean said shakily. "I know it wasn't you. You shouldn't be down here." he added, trying not to let on how grateful he was just to see another person at this point.

"The _devil_ had to make a run to town, and his wife must be feeling kinda bad about the whole,_ monster's going to kill me tomorrow _thing, because she let me come down here. And I brought some stuff." the boy explained, opening the backpack he'd brought, and pulling out a roll of gauze, bandages, tape, and alcohol." I hope it helps."

"Good job, buddy." Dean said, smiling gratefully at the boy.

"Oh yeah, and I brought you some drinks and stuff too." Jeff said, pulling them out as he spoke.

"Thanks." Dean said, taking one of the drinks, but his hands were shaking so badly he couldn't open it, so the boy did it for him.

"I need you to call my brother." Dean said, after taking a big swallow of the drink.

"I already tried to, but my dad's done something to the phones." the boy replied with a frown, glancing at Dean, who'd struggled into a sitting position, and was now leaning against the wall.

"Oh." Dean said quietly, lowering his head in defeat.

"This is all my fault, I got scared and pulled you into this and now you're hurt, and my crazy dad has you locked in our cellar, and there's nothing I can do about it." the boy rambled on miserably.

"No, don't even think about blaming yourself for this. You're _only_ 10. You should be watching the Smurfs and playing with your friends, instead, you're watching your friends die, and waiting for your turn. And that's just not fair." Dean said, putting a cold hand on the boys arm. "This is my _own_ fault, I'm the one who ran off with guns half cocked, and didn't even leave my brother a note or anything saying where I was. So don't even sweat over that, Jeff." he added, laying his head back against the wall, and closing his eyes with a sigh.

Yep, Dean, you're really screwed this time, he thought, holding a hand to his still bleeding stomach, and laughing bitterly.

"You know what, Dean? You're right; it's not my fault, _or yours_. It's these wacko people that we kids had the luck of landing as parent's fault. But you know what else? Number one, the _Smurfs_ is a totally gay cartoon, and I wouldn't be watching it if I could, and number two, we're _not_ giving up." he said, looking at him with determination. "And hey, I just realized something." he exclaimed looking at Dean accusingly, "You said that other guy is your brother! I thought he was your partner. You're not really even in the FBI are you?"

Why bother lying anymore.

"No Jeff, I'm not in the FBI, neither is Sam."

"I knew you were to dumb to be a FBI agents." the boy proclaimed.

"Gee thanks." Dean muttered, closing his eyes again, and wincing.

"You okay?" Jeff asked, and then said quickly, "Wait, don't even bother answering that stupid question, of course you're not okay."

"It's really hard to believe you're only ten, being so _perceptive_ and all." Dean replied sarcastically, then trying to move into a more comfortable position, only succeeding in causing himself more pain, and let out an involuntary moan.

"I brought you the bandages and stuff for a reason." Jeff stated.

"Oh, really? I thought I was just supposed to _look_ at them." Dean retorted lamely, but he _was_ hurting pretty badly, so it was the best he could do at the moment.

"So, shouldn't you use them already?Preferably_ before _you bleed to death." Jeff suggested.

"I'm getting to that; I just need a minute here, if you don't mind." Dean said crossly.

"Okay then, I guess I have to go back in before my dad comes back, I don't want him to know I came down here and all" Jeff said, standing up and brushing his pants off.

"No, wait!" Dean said frantically, "Do you have to go?"

He knew he sounded like a pathetic whiner, but he really didn't want to be left alone in the cellar again, so he didn't particularly care about his macho image at this moment.

"I _have to, _Dean, but I promise I'll be back as soon as I can. My dad leaves periodically throughout the day to attend to "business" as he calls it, and as soon as he leaves again I'll come, okay?" Jeff said, feeling badly about leaving the wounded man in the dark cellar alone, but it was for the best. If his dad found out he'd come down to see Dean, he would get really mad, and who knows what he might do then? "Here, you can keep my flashlight, it's a really good one." he

offered, and with a pathetic attempt at a smile, Dean took it from him.

"Thanks." he muttered.

"See you soon, okay?" the boy asked. "_Okay_?" he repeated when Dean didn't immediately answer.

"_Okay_, now get out of here before your dad gets back." Dean replied finally, giving the boy a forced smile, which he returned and quickly ran up the steps.

"Alone again, naturally." Dean sang to himself as he sat the flashlight on the ground and struggled out of his shirt, getting his first good look at the gash in his stomach. "Well that's definitely gonna leave a scar, but luckily, women dig scars." he said aloud, taking the top off of the alcohol.

He was glad he had waited until Jeff left to do this, the boy had seen enough blood and gore in _one_ week to last a lifetime.

"This is _so_ gonna hurt." he said, biting his lip in preparation for pouring the alcohol on his wound. He didn't even like putting alcohol on a small cut, much less a huge gaping one, but it was necessary, so taking a deep breath, and he poured it on.

And despite any mental preparation he thought he'd given himself, he screamed. He couldn't help it, because it was like his stomach was on fire, and he wished he would just pass out, but it just wasn't going to happen, so all he could do was wait it out until it receded to a more bearable throb, leaving him gasping momentarily, before continuing his task.

I guess patching Sam up all those times did teach me something, he thought as he wrapped the bandage around his stomach and taped it down.

Finally finished with his task, he put what remained of his shirt back on, and then he pulled his coat back on too, zipping it all the way up for warmth.

That should help me hold on a bit longer, he thought, but knew it was inevitable that it wouldn't last. Though he had succeeded in temporarily stopping the blood flow, he knew he'd lost too much already, and would soon go into shock. His wound was probably already infected, so his efforts would most likely end up being futile, but he had to try.

If he didn't, no one would be there to help the boy when his time came to face the Reverend, and most importantly, he had made his father a promise many years ago that he wouldn't let anything happen to Sam, and he'd be damned if he wasn't at least going to _try_ and keep it.

If only he'd left a note or something.

Jeff couldn't even call Sam for him.

Hey, wait a minute, dumbass!

Your cell phone, why hadn't he thought of that earlier?

Turning the flashlight on once again, he dug frantically in his coat pocket where he kept his phone. He almost cried in relief when he felt the familiar shape of it and pulled it out.

Seeing the light flashing that meant he'd missed some calls, he remembered he'd switched it to manner mode when he'd gone to meet Jeff.

The number that had called was Sam, and he'd tried to reach Dean, not only once, but four times, and he hadn't even known it.

He looked to see how many bars he had. Two, not too great a signal from the ole cellar, but it was better than nothing.

He made a silent decision to call the people who made the "can you hear me now" commercials and tell them their promise of being to get a full signal from anywhere was a bunch of bullshit, if he got out of this alive that is.

He luckily remembered the number to the hotel room, and after dialing it, waited with held breath to see if Sam answered.

After five rings, the phone was picked up, and he heard the familiar sound of Sam's voice.

The phone beeped at that moment, signaling the charge was moments away from running out, so he hurriedly said what he needed to his brother.

"Sam, it's me. I'm locked in the sheriff's cellar, I've been stabbed, and I'm hurting badly. I need your help." was all he got out before the phone competely died.

He threw it against the wall in frustration.

Well, Dean, it looks like you're just going to have to wait and see if he got all that.

Then as pain ripped through him once again, he finally fell into the welcome arms of darkness.

TBC


	4. Hang on

Thanks for all the positive reviews thus far, my peeps. I hope you continue to enjoy my little story. Let me say again, my beta Sarah rocks!

The Blood Harvest Chapter. 4

"Dean! No, don't hang up!" Sam yelled into the receiver, but moments later, after realizing the connection was lost, he unknowingly mirrored his brother's actions and threw the phone, yelling in frustration.

"Whoa! Calm down, Sam," Ian said calmly, after coming out of the bathroom. "Tell me what the hell happened to make you kill the phone."

"That was Dean." Sam replied, pacing.

"What was Dean? Was he on the phone?" Ian asked, confused.

"_Yes_! Didn't you hear the stupid thing _ring_?" Sam answered angrily.

"No, I was in the _bathroom_ with the _exhaust fan _on, so how _could_ I?" Ian answered, remaining calm. "But since you're obviously upset, I'm going to just take a guess that whatever he had to say was bad?"

"Yeah, what I _heard _of it. His phone was breaking up." Sam answered.

"Okay then, so are you gonna tell me the part you _did_ hear, or are we going to play charades so I can guess?" Ian asked, accidentally letting sarcasm slip into the question.

"From what I heard, he's been stabbed, and is locked in somebody's cellar." Sam replied, angrily wiping tears of frustration from his eyes.

"That's all you heard him say?" Ian asked surprised by what he'd just learnt.

"Yes! How many times do I have to say it? Oh wait, he did say he was hurting and I'm pretty sure the last part was something about _NEEDING_ _MY_ _HELP_!" Sam replied, yelling the last words.

"Just calm down! Your little temper tantrum isn't going to help Dean any, so _act your age_!" Ian said angrily to the younger man.

"You didn't hear him! He sounded... I don't know how to describe it, but it was _bad, _okay?"

"Okay." Ian replied, sighing. "So let's see, he's in someone's cellar, right?"

"Yes!"

"And it's safe to assume that it's probably one of the parents of the children's cellar, since they're the only ones who would stand to lose anything by you and Dean interfering in their plans, correct?" he asked.

"Yes, I guess that is the most_ logical _deduction." Sam agreed.

"And according to the legend, the Reverend kills seven children each cycle, and there have already been six deaths, so-" Ian started, but Sam jumped in before he could finish.

"So the _first _place to check for him would be at the home of the only child left, and that's _Jeff Martin_." he said with a smile.

"Correct, who just happens to be the only child that Dean had given his number at the Inn here, _and_ I know for a fact that the sheriff has a really big cellar." Ian added.

"Let's go." Sam said, quickly walking towards the door, Ian following closely behind.

Reaching the cars outside, they were met with a surprising sight.

"Shit!" Sam yelled, seeing that someone had flattened the tires on both Ian's police cruiser and Dean's car, which he had driven back to the Inn. "Now what?"

"You're the pro at this stuff, not me." Ian replied, shaking his head sadly. "That son of a bitch," he added under his breath, knowing the sheriff was responsible for the damage.

"We'll just hot-wire a car or something" Sam said, looking around the parking lot at the vehicles there.

"You _know_ how to do that?" Ian asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Sam.

"Of course, Dean showed me how before." Sam replied with a shrug, then added quickly when he remembered he was in the presence of a police officer (or an ex-police officer now), "Not that we've ever stolen anyone's car. We've _borrowed_ them before, but only when we _had_ too, and always returned them in one piece."

"Look, in this case it's totally understandable to do it. So you don't have to worry about me going all law crazy on you." Ian said, with a smile.

Sam finally decided on a new Toyota Celica and when Ian remarked on the fact he'd chosen a brand new sports car he replied with, "It's fast, and one of the many things I've learnt from my last several months with Dean, is the faster the car the better."

"Fair enough." Ian said, watching with interest as Sam set about hot-wiring the car.

"Will you stop staring over my shoulder?" Sam asked after his first attempt failed, "I only watched him do it, so I'm trying to remember exactly what he did, and you making me nervous isn't helping any."

"Sorry." Ian muttered, stepping back, "Never know when knowing how to do something like that might come in handy."

"You mean like_ now_?" Sam asked with a grin as the car purred to life.

"Precisely." Ian replied. He and Sam went to retrieve the weapons they were going to take with them from Dean's car, and a few minutes later, they were on their way to the sheriff's house, Ian driving because he knew the way.

"We've got company." Ian announced suddenly after they were halfway there, and Sam turned around and saw they were being followed closely behind by a police cruiser.

"You mean he's actually coming after us himself?" Sam asked in disbelief.

"I don't think that's him. I'm pretty sure it's Buchanan, another one of our prestigious force." Ian replied grimly.

"Can you lose him?" Sam asked.

"Oh yeah, but it's gonna put us a bit off course." he replied.

"It's better to get to Dean late than never." Sam said, and thought to himself, I only hope he'll be okay till then. He didn't think he could continue on the search for his father without Dean. He was the rock, and Sam now realized how much he had grown to rely on him to be the strong one. He had started taking it for granted that Dean was the protector, well this time_ he _was the one who needed help, and Sam would be damned if he wasn't going to receive it.

Just hang on Dean, I'm coming.

It had now reached nightfall and Jeff hurried back to the cellar after his dad left to make his rounds. He knew he had at least an hour before he returned, and planned to take full advantage of it by brainstorming with Dean to try and figure a way to get them _both_ out of this mess.

His mother had actually looked as though she was about to pass out in the recliner when he'd told her he was going back out.

She had only looked at him with glassy eyes and nodded slightly when he'd said it, holding a half-empty bottle of vodka in one hand.

Maybe they could escape while she slept, he thought with a flicker of hope.

After descending the stairs of the cellar, and seeing Dean, he realized with a sinking heart that they wouldn't be going anywhere.

He was still propped against the wall, staring wide-eyed as he mumbled incoherently, and Jeff could tell he was in a great deal of pain by the groans and whimpers he let out occasionally.

"Dean, I'm back, like I promised." he said, getting on his knees beside him, and when he didn't reply, Jeff hesitantly asked, "Can you hear me?"

Dean's hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat, and he was breathing in quick gasps.

"Dean!" Jeff repeated, louder this time, and was rewarded by Dean's confused gaze drifting to him.

"I'm s-sorry I got you in this whole mess Sammy, you lost your girlfriend and your happy life b-because of me." Dean said sadly.

Realizing that Dean must be thinking he was his brother, said, "It's Jeff, not Sam."

"D-dad told me to protect you." he continued on, ignoring what Jeff was saying, "And all I've done is exactly the opposite."

"Dean, I'm_ not _your brother!" Jeff said, almost yelling. He was at a loss as to what to do to help the man, and no matter how much it seemed he wasn't, he was only ten years old, and was scared by the way Dean was acting.

He felt like running quickly back up the steps, hiding in the comfort of his bed to try and forget the day's events.

No way. I can't leave him down here alone like this, he thought to himself, automatically feeling ashamed of himself for even thinking it.

Noticing Dean was staring at him with an odd expression, he once again told him he wasn't his brother.

It seemed to get through to him this time, because he blinked several times, and then squinted his eyes, looking at Jeff's features more closely in the dim light supplied by the flashlight.

"Jeff?" he asked after a minute, looking slightly disappointed.

"Yeah, that's right." he answered with a smile.

Sighing deeply, Dean closed his eyes again.

Thinking he'd fallen asleep, Jeff started to get up from where he sat to go back inside and try the phones one last time, but was stopped by Dean laying a hand on his arm.

"Don't leave me again, please." he requested in a scared sounding voice.

"I'm just gonna go try the phones again." Jeff said in soft reply. "I'll be right back."

"No, please, stay here." Dean said.

Jeff started to protest, but looking at Dean again and seeing how scared he seemed, decided to do as he asked.

What were the chances of the phones being back on anyway?

"Okay." Jeff replied, and on impulse grabbed Dean's hand.

Dean closed his eyes, but Jeff knew better than to think he'd fallen asleep this time and didn't attempt to get up and leave again.

"Tell me what cartoons you like." he requested, and after a second's hesitation, Jeff did just that.

If that was all he could do to help the man keep his mind off the situation at hand, he was more than happy to comply.

"Well, my favorite is Scooby-Doo..."

TBC

I know this chapter was a bit angsty, but don't worry, things couldn't possibly get any worse at this point, so the only way is up… (or is it?) I'll try and update again soon! Please review.


	5. Found

I know what you all probably think about me updating so fast, "Oh she has no life and things like that", but I do. I wait until my hubby and son go to sleep, and the first place I go is to my computer. I _so_ enjoy writing, it makes me feel like I'm a real author!

Thanks to all who have reviewed so far and to my wonderful beta, Sarah!

THE BLOOD HARVEST CH.5

"Here, Dean, try and drink some water." Jeff said for the tenth time, while holding a bottle out to him.

"No. Can't." Dean muttered in reply.

"You have to." Jeff whined, "You're gonna get dehydrated if you don't."

"Dying anyway, so whats it matter?" Dean said.

"You are _not_ gonna die, Dean." Jeff said adamantly.

"J-just leave me alone!"

"_Fine_! You want me to leave you _alone_? Then I'll leave you alone! This _is_ my last night on earth and all, since my dad's gonna feed me to the _Reverend_, so there's a lotta stuff I'd rather be doing than this!" Jeff yelled, as he stood up and stalked towards the steps leading from the cellar.

"I'm sorry." Dean said in almost a whisper but loud enough that the boy still heard him.

"What did you say?" Jeff asked, turning to look at him.

"I s-said, I'm sorry." Dean repeated, then added, his voice breaking, "It just h-hurts bad. I don't mean to take it out on y-you."

"Oh… um, that's okay. I forgive you." Jeff said with a smile. "After all, you're probably the best friend I've ever had, and since I've only known you _one_ day, that's pretty sad, huh? Nobody else has _ever _gotten stabbed for me before, you know?"

"What an honor it was too." Dean said sarcastically, chuckling softly, which he realized was a bad idea, when pain ripped through him like fire.

"Aarghh! God help!" he yelled as Jeff stood by staring helplessly.

'What can I do?' he wondered, seeing Dean writhe in pain, his breath coming in shallow pants.

'He's dying', Jeff thought, 'That's what's happening to him now, he's dying.

'In my cellar.'

Dean let out another yell, his back arched in pain, and Jeff went over and sat beside him once again, taking his hand.

'Well at least he won't die alone,' Jeff thought, and squeezing Dean's hand, started crying softly for the man.

Sam and Ian had finally reached the sheriff's home and after riding around the whole property to see if he was home, found to their immense relief, he wasn't.

'Must be out trying to help hunt us down,' Sam thought with a grin.

They had lost the officer after Sam had finally gotten so pissed off from the whole chase scenario that he had grabbed the shotgun Ian had chosen and yelled, "Screw this!" Rolling down the passenger side window, Sam had leaned out as far as he could, after telling Ian to hold her steady, and had shot out both the man's front tires in his first two tries.

"Yeehaw!" he had yelled, "Now that's what I call some _damn fine shooting_!" he yelled when the police car ran off the side of the road.

"Not bad." Ian said, nodding his head and smiling. "Not bad at all."

Now almost fifteen minutes later, they had reached their destination, and were getting out of the Celica when they heard someone yelling.

"What was that?" Ian asked, looking around quickly.

"_Hurry up_! _That _was my _brother! _"Sam replied worriedly. Dean had to be in a lot of pain to be yelling out like that.

"Oh shit." Ian said softly, when, as they were slowly approaching the cellar doors, another heart-wrenching scream of pain came from below.

Any inhibitions Sam had were automatically thrown aside after the second scream echoed through the air. He ran and flung the doors open, and almost fell twice in his hurry to get down the steps.

"Dean?" he yelled after reaching the bottom.

"Over here!" A child's voice said loudly, followed by, "Thank god you're here! I did all I could but..." seeing Ian walk in behind Sam, the boy stopped mid-sentence and looked at him with unconcealed distrust. "Why are _you_ here?" he asked the man angrily.

"He's here with me." Sam replied, kneeling down beside Dean, and then added "He's a _good_ guy."

"But you work for my _dad_." Jeff said accusingly to Ian.

"Not anymore, buddy. I'm a free lance '_destroyer of evil' _at the moment." Ian said with a grin. This, despite his earlier inhibitions, put Jeff more at ease, and he walked forward to stand beside the man as they looked down at the brothers.

"Dean! Can you hear me?" Sam asked, smacking him brother lightly on the face, hoping to get him coherent enough to realize he was there.

The only reaction was his brother moaning and trying to push his hands away.

"_Stop, _Dean, you gotta listen to me, _okay_?" Sam asked, putting his face directly in front of his brother's. "_Please_."

His eyes seemed to clear a little and he said in barely a whisper, "_Took you long enough_." and a ghost of a smile played on his lips.

With a sigh of relief, Sam briefly touched foreheads with his brother and said a small prayer of thanks that, though he was in bad shape, he was at least still alive. Then he quickly checked him over to see the extent of his injury, wincing when, him pulling up the bandage to check the wound, made Dean yell out.

"I'm done now, Dean. I'm sorry for hurting you more, but I had to look. I'm gonna get you out of here, so just hang on, okay?" he asked, and he thought he saw his brothers head nod almost imperceptibly, but it was hard to tell.

He stood up, and Ian walked to stand beside him, while Jeff went back to sit down beside Dean again, talking animatedly about who knew what, to try and distract him from the pain he was in.

"Well, how bad is it? Can we move him out of here without doing more damage?" Ian asked.

"It's b-bad." Sam answered, his voice breaking slightly. "And no, it's probably not too good an idea to move him, but it's the only choice we have if we want to at least try…"he trailed off as his voice broke again and turned his head away from Ian for a moment, then a second later resumed, "_try _to save him."

"Alright then, let's do this." Ian said, taking charge of getting things going. "We'll have to carry him out obviously, so how you want to do it?"

"I'll get him." Sam stated.

"But, you can't carry him alone." Ian said. Sam _was_ the taller of the two, but Dean was no light _looking_ person to carry by any means.

"I said_ I've _got him." Sam repeated, his tone leaving no room for argument, as he leaned over and quickly scooped his brother up as if he weighed nothing.

"_Okay_ then." Ian said, moving to let Sam walk out first, staying behind just in case he might stumble going up the steep steps.

"Come on, Jeff." Ian said, turning to look at the young boy.

"If I come with you my dad will hunt you down and kill _all _of you." the boy said softly. "He owns this town, Ian, and you know it. Even if he doesn't kill you, _they'll _never make it out of town alive. I already have Dean getting hurt, maybe dying even, to blame myself for, and I don't want Sam to get hurt too."

Ian knelt down in front of Jeff and put his hands on the boy's shoulders, "Are you sure you're only ten? Because you're braver than most grown men I know." he commented, then hugging the boy, added, "We'll come back for you tomorrow. He won't do anything to you until then, I promise." and seeing Jeff was about to protest added, "Do you know how pissed Sam's brother would be if he got stabbed for nothing? Poor Sam wouldn't hear the end of it if we let you get hurt after all he went through, and from what I hear, Dean is sure good at laying it on thick. So, would you really want that for Sam?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Jeff said with a chuckle. "See you tomorrow then?"

"You bet your sweet patooty." Ian replied.

Jeff groaned and rolling his eyes said, "_Gay_." Then turning serious again said, "I hope Dean's okay, tell him I said so."

"I will." Ian replied, and then patted Jeff on the head once more, before turning and walking towards where Sam was trying to decide how to get Dean into the small car without causing him more pain.

"Wish you'd stolen a bigger car now, huh?" Ian asked.

"Huh?" Sam asked, his head jerking up at Ian's voice jolting him from his thoughts, then looking around, saw Jeff wasn't with Ian. "Where's the kid?"

"He wouldn't come with us, said it was too dangerous for us." Ian replied.

"What? That's ridiculous!" Sam argued, but his attention went back to Dean quickly when he groaned, and opened his eyes.

"Sam?" he asked, looking at him with pain clouded eyes.

"Yeah, I'm still here, Dean, we're getting you to help. So just be strong for me and hold on a little longer, okay?"

"_Try_." was his reply, before letting his eyes fall closed again.

"Well, we _are_ gonna come back for the kid, _agreed_?" Sam asked.

"Already told him so." Ian replied with a smile.

"Good. Now, I guess since _someone_ picked a car with no backseat, we'll just have to prop him up between us." Sam said, and they carefully got in and maneuvered Dean between them, making him as comfortable as possible, with Sam putting his arm around him to hold him upright.

"Put the pedal to the metal." Sam ordered, and Ian pulled out quickly.

'Don't worry, Jeff, we'll be back for you.' Sam promised silently, and then let his head rest on the top of Dean's momentarily as he prayed his brother would be okay.

'Dad, where are you? We_ both _really need you right now.'

TBC

I think I'm only gonna have two more chapters, so the big showdown between Sam and the Reverend will be coming up soon! And what about that bad sheriff? What should I do to him? Hhmm... (I think I know, and it's evil) And will Dean be ok? (Please, I love him! You don't think I'd let him die do you?) I just like to inflict a little torture every now and then. What about Jeff? These questions answered and many more! Coming up soon!


	6. scouts honor

Here's my latest chapter. I might finish up with this one instead of two more chappies because I have been hit with inspiration for my next story already! I won't let that interfere with the quality of the ending of this one though, so it might still have another chappie! And again, thank you, Sarah, my awesome beta. (I'm planning on emailing you with my idea in case you'd like to co-write it with me!) Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers!

The Blood Harvest Ch.6

"Crap, Sam, I just realized something!" Ian exclaimed, as they were nearing the center of town.

"What?" he replied, raising his eyes from Dean, who was mumbling incoherently from his position between them.

"We can't take him to the hospital."

"_What_? Why the hell _not_?" Sam asked angrily.

"_Because_, by now the sheriff will have discovered we found him, and will have everyone on the lookout for us, and where would be the_ first _place he'd have them look?" Ian asked.

"The _hospital_." Sam answered, realization dawning on his face.

"_Exactly_, so if we go there, not only will Dean die, but you might too." Ian said.

"Man this is one _fucked_ up town!" Sam said loudly, hitting the dash in front of him with his fist, jostling Dean in the process, who let out a small whimper.

"Sorry, bro," Sam said softly, and then replied, "Then we'll just have to take him _somewhere _else."

"Okay, I'm game." Ian replied, then, arching an eyebrow, turned to look briefly at Sam and asked, "_Where? _There's not another town for miles."

"There's gotta be _one_ doctor's office in this god-forsaken place that has some morals left." Sam said.

"Nope, there's only _one_ doctor's office in town, and the doc is one of the sheriff's closest pals." Ian stated.

"Oh, you must mean the one near the Inn." Sam remarked, and then his eyes lit up, "Hey, Becky works there! If we can't get a doctor, we'll just have to settle for a nurse!" he exclaimed.

"I don't know if that's such a great idea, Sam." Ian replied dubiously. "She_ is _a nurse, but she's always struck me as being, I don't know, for lack of a better word, _flakey_."

"So you have a better idea then?" Sam asked, and when Ian didn't reply, he added, "I didn't think so. She's better than nothing, so go, _now_!"

They continued and shortly were pulling up in front of the woman's house.

"I'll go to the door first, and give her a heads up about what's coming." Ian said, jumping from the car, and running to the door.

Easing Dean carefully from the car, Sam muttered to his brother, "I hope you laid the charm on thick to her." and carried him slowly up the walkway.

Ian knocked twice before a very grumpy, but still sexy even in her disarrayed state, Becky opened the door. "Ian? Why are you beating on my door at three something in the morning?" she asked angrily.

"Well, I need your help." he replied after a moment.

"_Oh_. So the old fiancé isn't up to par anymore, huh?" she asked, giving him a knowing smile. "Normally I would invite you in, Ian, but it's too late, so come back tomorrow and we'll discuss your _problem_ then." she said, and started to close the door.

"No! Wait!" he exclaimed, his face turning red with embarrassment. "That's not what the problem is! My fiancé is far more than up to par. It's not _me_ who needs your help anyway, it's my friend, and actually I think he's a mutual friend."

"A mutual friend? What are you talking about Ian? It's really late and I have work tomorrow, so I don't really feel like playing some childish game of "Will you sleep with my friend?" Okay?" she said crossly, then looking at something behind him, her eyes widened as she put her hand to her mouth, gasping in shock.

"_Oh my god_." she said, seeing Sam carrying his blood covered brother. "What happened to him?"

"Hey, Becky, long time no see." Sam said, giving her his best attempt at a smile.

"He's been stabbed, Becky." Ian answered.

"Why did you bring him_ here_? You _can't _bring him here! Take him to the_ hospital_." she said vehemently.

"We _can't _take him there." Sam said.

"Why not?" she asked suspiciously.

"Because that's the _first_ place Sheriff Martin will look." Ian answered matter-of-factly.

"The police are after him? Well, take him somewhere else! I'm not having _any_ part in someone running from the law." she said, shaking her head slowly.

"It's not like that!" Sam exclaimed. "The sheriff is the one who did this to him, not directly, but he _caused_ it."

"What?"

"He had the _Reverend_ do it, Becky." Ian explained. "He's going to let him kill Jeff tomorrow, and Dean was trying to help him, and this happened."

"The Reverend isn't real, Ian. You know that. It's just a legend." she replied.

"He _is_ real, and he's the one responsible for all the children who've been murdered lately, and the sheriff didn't want Dean and Sam interfering so he did this." Ian argued.

"You mean to tell me that the sheriff _knowingly_ let someone or something kill children, and did nothing to stop it? He's going to let it kill his own son?" she asked unbelievingly.

"_All_ the parents are in on it, Becky. You've seen them around town, I know. Haven't you noticed how they don't even seem the least bit upset?"

Sam, who had been patiently listening to them, finally spoke up, "Please, let us come in. I'm about to drop him!"

"Well, okay. But I'm only a nurse, you should let me call the doctor." she said, stepping back to allow them entrance to her house.

"No!" Sam said, stopping mid-step, and looking at her. "He's the sheriff's best friend; he'll call him first thing!"

"This is crazy." she stated, then added, "Alright then. You can take him to my bedroom. It's the last door on the left." she hurried away, disappearing into the bathroom.

Sam had just carefully placed Dean on her bed when she reappeared beside him carrying a doctor's bag.

"What's a nurse doing with a doctor's bag?" Sam asked.

"This nurse doesn't plan _always_ on staying a nurse. I've just started going back to take classes to be a doctor, so I went ahead and bought a bag. It's always best to plan ahead of time, you know?" she replied, turning on the light in the bedroom so she could see what she was doing.

She was shocked by Dean's appearance even more when she saw him clearly in the light.

Wide-awake, he was staring at the ceiling with glassy eyes, his hair plastered to his forehead as he shook all over. He was a pitiful sight, and she found it hard to believe he was the same man from this morning.

"Um, first we have to get his coat and shirt off of him so I can see his wound." she stated, and Sam and Ian commenced to taking them off, which proved to be a difficult task with him struggling against them every step of the way.

Finally, they had his upper body unclothed and she, after removing the blood soaked bandages, saw the ugly gash in his abdomen.

"I'm going to have to check and see if any major organs were damaged, so you're going to have to hold him down." she instructed, pulling on a pair of latex examination gloves.

They each took a side and braced themselves for what was sure to be an unpleasant task.

Before starting, she put a hand out to caress his cheek, then after kissing him on the forehead, said, "I'm sorry I have to hurt you more, but it'll only be for a minute, I promise."

He was having a moment of clarity it seemed, because he actually nodded his head, and smiled a little at her.

Then, with a sigh, she put her fingers inside the wound and probed around to see how bad it was.

Dean screamed and thrashed, "Arghhhhhh! Stop!"

But the two other men kept a tight grip on him while she worked, and Sam murmured soothing, encouraging words to him until she finished.

"Well, somehow they managed to miss anything vital." she announced, and Sam breathed a sigh of relief.

"So, he'll be alright?"

"Honestly, I don't know, but if it isn't too badly infected, which it doesn't _appear _to be, then odds are in his favor." she answered hesitantly. "I'll just sew him up and then we'll have to keep watch on him for a while."

"Thanks for helping him, Becky." Sam said solemnly. "I don't know what I'd do without my brother."

"You're _both_ quite welcome, I'm just glad nothing vital was hit, because I'd have been at a loss as to what to do for him." she said with a small smile.

"I've died and gone to heaven." Dean said in a raspy voice, several hours later, when he awoke to find Becky and Ian's fiancé, Mandy, sitting on either side of the bed he was laying on, and then when Sam appeared out of nowhere, a huge grin on his face, he groaned and added jokingly, "Maybe_ not_."

"Well, sleeping _ugly_ decides to awaken." Sam remarked happily.

"Where am I?" Dean asked.

"You are at Nurse_ Becky's _house, in Nurse_ Becky's_ bed." Sam replied, lowering his voice so she wouldn't hear him, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.

"Wow, was it good for her? Because I don't remember shit." Dean whispered after a moments silence, chuckling softly, and then wincing at the pain doing so caused.

"_Ow._ Remind me not to do that again." he said, when he could actually speak again. "So, I see you _finally_ came to my rescue, Sammy." he added.

"Yeah, sorry I took so long, but your running off without leaving a note or anything didn't_ help _matters any." Sam chastised.

"You know me, always leaping before I look." Dean replied with a sigh.

"_Never_ do that again." Sam said, grabbing his hand and squeezing it, while giving him a serious look. "I mean it."

"I _won't_. Scout's honor. I didn't much enjoy getting gutted by the _Reverend_ guy."

"You _weren't_ a boy scout, Dean." Sam said after a pause.

"Details, details," Dean replied, rolling his eyes. "You get what I mean though."

"_Yeah_, I do." Sam said, smiling affectionately at him, and hugging him quickly.

"Sooo, I take it I'm going to live." Dean said, slightly embarrassed by Sam's actions, after his brother let him go. "Though, I gotta say, I still hurt like a bitch."

"Yep, you'll live thanks to the careful nursing and medicine provided by the one day _doctor_ Becky." Sam replied.

"No need to thank me. It was my pleasure." she replied, popping up at Sam's side. "And, you really shouldn't thank me yet, it's a bit infected and you could _still _die from that." she stated matter-of-factly. "You could _also_ have died from blood loss, but thankfully, Mandy here shares your type and donated to the cause."

"Talk about a downer." Dean said, with a frown. "Could you maybe just _stand_ there and not_ talk_?" he asked hopefully.

"Just stating the facts, young man." she said, then added, "But if you _do_ live, you can be sure I'll expect some _form_ of thanks." and smiling coyly, walked away, swaying her hips.

"_I wanna live_!" Dean said loudly, and then let his gaze settle on Mandy, who was looking at him with an amused expression. "Well, hello there, Mandy." he said, giving her a smile. "I think I owe you some _form_ of thanks also." He winked.

"I think I liked you better when you were _unconscious." _she said in reply, rolling her eyes. "And no thanks, my _fiancé,_ Ian, provides _all _the forms of anything I might need."

"Oops, my bad, man." Dean said, trying his best to look ashamed of himself.

"Hey, not a problem, who knows, maybe we can work out a temporary _exchange_ of women." Ian replied jokingly, and then automatically ducked to avoid the punch he knew was coming from Mandy.

"That's it; I'm marrying _Sam_, not you. What do you say?" she asked, smiling brightly at the younger Winchester, who blushed at her words.

"Just tell me when and where, and you better_ believe _I'll be there." he finally replied. This caused him to have to duck away from a punch aimed at his arm from Ian.

"Hey!" Dean exclaimed suddenly. "Where's Jeff?" he asked.

"Um… well..." Sam started hesitantly, apparently not wanting to tell his brother the truth. "You see, hedidn'tcomewithus." he finally replied, stringing all the words together.

"What?" Dean yelled. "He's not here?"

"No." Sam answered with a grim expression. "He didn't want to come because he said the sheriff would kill me and you _both_ if he did."

"And you left him? What the hell! You can't overpower a _kid_? You should have_ made _him come!"

"You shouldn't be getting so upset, Dean." Sam said, lowering his eyes from his brother's glare.

"I shouldn't be…" Dean started angrily. "You think I went running off to save him, just to let you leave him behind? I _promised_ nothing would happen to him!"

"Well, excuse-a-fucking-me for caring more about the welfare of my _dying brother _than some kid I don't even know!" Sam retorted.

"Fine! I'm going back to get him!" Dean said, starting to get up.

"Oh _no _you don't." Ian said, putting a restraining hand on his chest. "You're not in the shape to be going _anywhere_ my friend."

"I'm fine. See, all patched up, now get your hands_ off _of me! "Dean argued, pointing at his now bandaged wound.

"You are_ not _fine." Becky said, drawn back to the room because of the yelling. "You have a fever and I need to keep an eye on you in case it elevates any more."

"I said I feel _fine_!" he retorted, but honestly he didn't. He noticed the room seemed to have gotten uncomfortably warm, to the point that he was starting to sweat. Not to mention his stomach was starting to steadily throb again since the pain medication he'd been given was wearing off.

"Dean, please calm down, and listen to me for a damn minute!" Sam yelled loudly, and smiled when Dean looked at him in surprise.

"Now, since I have your attention. _I_ am going after Jeff. It was predetermined before we left him, that we'd come back when we got _you_ taken care of."

"You can't face that thing_ alone_." Dean stated, laying his head back on the pillow to try and calm the nausea he was now feeling.

"Who said he was going alone?" Ian chimed in.

"Great, Sammy has Barney Fife going with him. Now I can stop worrying." Dean said sarcastically.

"Hey! I don't look anything like Barney Fife!" Ian exclaimed, looking outraged by the comparison. "Do I?" he asked Mandy, who quickly kissed his cheek and replied, "No way baby. You haven't seen theday you look as sexy asBarney." but added, "Kidding, just kidding. No resemblance at all, you sexy beast."

"So, what's the plan?" Dean asked.

"How about you let _us_ worry about that." Sam answered, taking in the fact his brother was now fighting to remain awake. "While _you_ get some rest."

Becky had placed a hand on Dean's forehead and was now frowning. "Well, I'd _hoped_ he wouldn't get hit by this, but I guess you don't always get what you wish for."

"Will he be alright?"

"Yes, I'm sure he will. I just have to keep feeding him antibiotics until this passes." she replied. "_And_ he needs to rest, so that means everybody _out_."

"Even _me_?" Sam asked.

"_Especially_ you. I know you're his brother and all, but we need to keep him calm, and you two going at it like cats and dogs just doesn't accomplish much in that area." she answered.

"Well...If you think it's for the best…" Sam said reluctantly.

"He'll be fine. He's in the caring hands of myself and Mandy. If you don't mind helping me with him." she directed at the other woman.

"Not at all." she replied, and Sam and Ian were unceremoniously pushed out of the door.

"Sam." Dean said as they were closing the door.

"Yeah?" he asked, stopping to poke his head back into the room.

"Be careful."

"Always." Sam said adding cockily, "This is _me_ we're talking about, not _you_."

Dean chuckled, and Mandy put her hand on Sam, shoving him out and closing the door.

"It's almost dawn." Ian remarked when he walked into the den.

"I know. We need to be getting out to the lake soon." Sam said.

"Think we can stop this thing?"

"Sure, shouldn't be that hard." Sam replied, eluding more confidence than he felt." All we have to do is make sure it doesn't kill the boy today. No seventh sacrifice by the end of the day, no more deal. And our good Reverend goes back to hell where he belongs, simple as that."

"_Yeah_… that sounds real simple." Ian said with a half-hearted smile. "_Real simple_."

TBC

Yay! One down, one more to go! The big finale comes next!


	7. The end

Okay, after a small break, I present to you the final chapter. I have had quite a difficult time writing this because my creative juices just haven't been flowing, but I figured if I didn't finish now that I might end up doing one of those things that I hate, like letting it go. So, I apologize if it's not too great.

Thanks to all of my reviewers, especially Sarah, my beta, who has taught me a lot about proper writing and such! Well, here goes nothing!

The Blood Harvest- Chapter 7

Sam and Ian had been waiting, hidden from view at the fishing lake, since shortly after dawn.

Looking at his watch, Sam saw that it was now after 4 pm and there still was no sign of the sheriff, his son, or this Reverend character.

Maybe he finally developed a conscience, Sam thought, yawning and stretching his arms above his head trying not to fall asleep where he sat, hunched in a large clump of bushes.

He hadn't slept in he didn't know how long, and was hungry and irritable, but Ian had promised the boy that they would be there. More importantly, _he_ had promised his brother that he wouldn't let anything happen to the kid. So if he had too, he'd sit out here until after midnight passed to insure it.

So he sat, and as time passed slowly he felt his eyelids grow heavier until finally, he had fallen asleep without knowing it.

They came at 10 pm, and Ian was the first of the two to notice. Peering over to where Sam sat hidden and seeing he was asleep, Ian picked up a rock lying near him and threw it as hard as he could, hoping to hit the tree behind the other man to rouse him.

Oh crap, Ian thought with a grimace as he saw that his aim had been a _little _off.

The rock had popped the younger of the Winchester brothers in the face, right below his right eye, and he'd jerked awake with a surprised yelp of pain, automatically going on the defensive.

Luckily, the sheriff had still been too far away to hear the young man cry out or Ian would have just single handedly ruined any hopes of saving the boy.

"Shh!" he whispered loudly to Sam, who was rubbing his face with a look of confusion. "They're coming!"

Sam looked down and saw the rock laying on the ground at his feet, then looked back up at Ian, through slitted eyes, with an almost humorous look of anger on his face as he realized what the other man had done.

Ian shrugged and gave him an apologetic grin, while mouthing the word sorry.

Sam was not happy in the least, but he knew now was not the time to hold a grudge. Smiling insincerely back at Ian, he mentally filed away that he owed the man some major payback later.

Seeing the sheriff enter the clearing, dragging his struggling son, Sam immediately switched pack to action mode as he waited for the right moment to act.

"No daddy, please don't do this!" Jeff pleaded with his father, tears streaming down his face.

"Jeff, son, I've already explained to you that by this small sacrifice you're making, the whole town's well being will be insured for many more years. Think of yourself as a martyr, who gave himself up for the better good." his father said calmly, while tying the rope that was wrapped around both of Jeff's wrists to a low hanging limb, drawing his arms up above his head.

"That's bullshit dad!" Jeff yelled defiantly, still struggling. "This isn't about the town, it's about you and your sick friends not wanting to actually have to work for anything you have." he gave his father a hard kick in the shin to accentuate his words, but all his father did was smile and say,

"Where did a ten year old get such a potty mouth? Certainly not from me." and after making sure Jeff was secured and wouldn't be going anywhere, he moved to the center of the clearing where he started chanting unintelligible words softly, and kneeled down in the position usually reserved for prayer.

"Help! Help!" Jeff screamed at the top of his lungs.

Looking at Ian through the bushes, Sam nodded his head.

It was time to take this sheriff out and end this crap.

They silently moved from where they were hidden, and seeing them, Jeff's eyes lit up, but he kept right on yelling so his father wouldn't be suspicious.

Ian moved towards the boy, while Sam crept up behind the sheriff, with his small handgun drawn.

"It's too late now, Mr. Winchester." the sheriff said without turning around when Sam was right behind him.

"Get up, you sick son of a bitch!" Sam demanded.

The sheriff slowly stood up, wiping the dirt from his knees in the process, and when he was upright Sam continued, "Now turn around, and let me see your hands."

Raising his hands up, the man turned around, a snide look on his face and asked Sam, "So, how is that brother of yours, boy? Is he dead yet?"

"Shut up right now, you bastard, or I swear, I won't hesitate to shut you up myself!" Sam yelled angrily.

"Oh, did I hit a nerve, boy?" the man asked with a smile." You really should have heard him crying. It was quite heartbreaking. I was inside and I _still_ heard him all the way from the cellar."

"SHUT UP!" Sam repeated, moving closer to the man as he spoke. "Do you want to die?"

"No, and I can promise you that I will not be the one to die tonight, boy." he replied calmly, just as Sam heard Jeff yell out behind him.

Without thinking, Sam turned around to see that the Reverend had appeared and was approaching where the boy was, Ian standing in front of him, having been in the process of cutting his arms loose from the tree. He drew his gun.

Turning around had given the sheriff the opportunity that he needed to dive on Sam, tackling him, knocking the gun from his hand in the process, sending it flying to the ground a distance away.

Stupid, stupid, Sam said to himself as he wrestled with the man on the ground. He had been careless, and it could very well cost him his life.

Ian fired his gun several times at the monster slowly approaching him and Jeff, and he was honestly not that surprised when alls the thing did after they hit him was shake its eyeless head and continue his unfaltering stride towards them.

"Great, this is just fricking perfect." he muttered sarcastically as the thing reached him, picked him up by the throat and threw him twenty feet or more into a tree, his head hitting the base of it with a sickening thunk.

Sam was still struggling with the sheriff on the ground as this happened, but still saw Ian fly into the tree.

Time to stop playing nice, he thought as the sheriff's fist connected with his face, right where Ian had accidentally hit him earlier. With the pain, came a renewed burst of energy brought on by intense anger, images of his brother when he had found him passing through his head, and with a primal yell, he kneed the man, then kicked him off of him and quickly dove on top of him. He then punched him repeatedly in the face, and though probably not as strong as his brother, Sam still packed a hell of a punch. After several more swings, Sam had knocked the older man out.

He heard Jeff yell again, and getting one last lick just to be safe, jumped up and raced towards where the Reverend now stood directly in front of the child, running the tip of the knife up and down his chest and abdomen, not pushing it in hard enough to actually kill him, but still piercing the outer layer, causing blood to seep through the boy's shirt.

He was toying with him, wanting to make him suffer a bit before going in for the actual kill.

Using this to his advantage, Sam picked up a large limb lying on the ground and walked up behind the thing, swinging it as hard as he could.

"Hey ,ugly, why don't you pick on someone your own size." he said as his limb connected with its head.

It faltered, bending its neck from side to size, and then turned slowly to face Sam.

"Looks like I got your attention." Sam stated as he saw the sick smile on its eyeless face.

Swinging the limb again, Sam aimed this time for the hand holding its knife, and succeeded in knocking it out of it.

"Okay, at least I managed to do that." Sam said aloud, swinging again at it, but this time it caught the limb before connected, and with a single jerk, pulled it from his hands, then hit him with it hard enough to knock him to the ground.

It then turned its attention right back to Jeff, considering Sam to no longer be a threat.

Grabbing his arm that steadily throbbed from where the limb had connected with it, Sam got up and walked up to the thing once again.

It had once again moved to its earlier position, its retrieved knife in its hands.

"Come on, is that all you've got?" Sam asked through gritted teeth. "I'm not a ten year old, so it takes a lot more than that."

It turned around again, and Sam thought that it actually had a look of annoyance on its face.

"Yeah, that's right. Do your worst, freak." Sam chided, trying to ignore the pain shooting through his arm, as he backed away from the thing, hoping it would follow, and it did.

Mens' egos were always their down fall, but once the thing moved forward, Sam wondered what he would do when it did reach him.

Most likely play pincushion.

At least it wasn't messing with the kid anymore, for the time being.

Sam didn't notice that the sheriff had risen from his position on the ground and was also approaching him slowly from behind, but luckily Ian had also awoken, and seeing what was about to happen, yelled out a warning to him.

"Watch out behind you!" he yelled, just as the monster was thrusting its dagger towards Sam.

Hearing the warning, Sam jumped to the side, throwing himself to the ground.

The sheriff had been right behind him, and the Reverend, already having thrusted its dagger forward, stabbed the man instead of Sam.

Looking at the Reverend with a look of surprise on his face, the man fell to the ground where he writhed for a moment before finally going still.

The monster let out an unearthly howl of rage before suddenly bursting in to flames, and moments later, disappeared.

So that was the way to break the curse, Sam thought, looking at the charred spot that the creature had occupied only seconds earlier.

If it kills one of the people that it had a bargain with, it's over.

"Thank you up there," Sam said, his eyes looking heavenwards.

He walked over and finished cutting the boy loose, who surprisingly enough was calm.

"There you go, buddy." Sam said, as the boy rubbed his wrists where the rope had dug in to his skin.

"I'm sorry about your dad." Sam added. Even if he was evil, he was still the boy's father.

"I'm not." Jeff said truthfully as they walked to where Ian sat on the ground rubbing his head.

Sam held out the hand of his good arm and helped him rise unsteadily to his feet.

"You alright?" he asked him.

"I'm alive and that alone is enough for me." he answered. "You?"

"I think my arm is broken." he replied through gritted teeth. "But I'll live. Oh and I want to

thank you for this."he said, pointing at his swelling cheek.

Smiling sheepishly, Ian said,"Lets get out of here." and they walked back to the car.

(3 days later)

"Thanks for everything man." Sam said, shaking Ian's hand as he and Dean prepared to leave.

They made quite the pair, him with a broken arm, and Dean moving as slowly as an old man,

trying not to jostle his still sore mid-section.

"It was my pleasure, and hey, look where it got me." Ian replied with a smile.

He was now the town's sheriff since the other man had died.

"Ready to go, Dean?" he asked his brother, who sat talking on the porch steps with Jeff.

"Just a sec." Dean replied, and reaching into his bag, pulled out a DVD. "Here you go, buddy." he said, handing it to the boy.

"Wow thanks, Dean." he exclaimed, seeing that he had gotten him the box set of every episode of the original Scooby Doo series.

"Its the least I could do after all you did to help me out." Dean said with a shrug.

Jeff suddenly hugged him tightly, and Sam almost laughed at the look of discomfort on his brother's face.

Dean really wasn't the over emotional type and it was slightly awkward for him, but after a moment he gave in and hugged the boy back, they stood up after he finally let go.

"Take good care of him." Dean ordered Ian, who had decided along with his fiancé that the boy was going to live with him, then both of them after they married.

"Scouts honor." Ian replied, grinning.

"And as for you." Dean said, directing his next words to Becky who had come to send him off." If you ever need anything, just let us know." he said, handing her a piece of paper with his cell# on it.

"_Anything?" _she asked, smiling coyly after taking it from him.

"Let's just leave it at this, when I finish what we have to, I'll be sure to stop back for another personal examination." he said, raising his eyes suggestively.

"Come on, Casanova, we have somewhere to be." Sam said, shaking his head at his brother's words.

Holding his hand out, Dean reluctantly tossed him the keys. Even with a broken arm, it was safer

for him to drive than Dean, who was still taking pain killers.

Then Dean and Sam left, honking the horn as they pulled from the driveway.

"You're so jealous aren't you, Sammy?" he asked with a chuckle, and then ducked away as his brother reached out to punch him. "Hey now, there's no need for violence." Dean whined, then added, "Tell you what, when she calls, which I know she will, after all, who can resist me. I'll try to get us a package deal. It will be hard to convince her to take you after she's already had the best, but I'll give it a go."

"Just shut up before I have to hurt you." was Sam's reply, a contented smile on his face as he thought how, despite his cockiness, Dean was the best brother anyone could ever hope for.

The End.

So what do you think? It was fun writing this folks, and I'll have another story up soon! So thanks for reading!


End file.
